Hello and Welcome

So a quick intro, my name is Betty de Groot, and I am the new and proud owner of Caledon’s Turtle Green Refillery.  I grew up in Caledon, in the days when this area was called Albion. I was number 3 of 5 girls, raised by loving and practical Dutch parents, on a farm just outside of Bolton. After high school I attended the Trent-Queen’s Teacher Education Program and began teaching in Toronto.  Once my children were born, I moved back to Bolton, where I’ve lived ever since.  I’ve taught in Toronto, Brampton and Caledon and have recently retired in June of 2021.

When Carolyn Vallejo, the founder of Turtle Green Refillery, told me and our other ecoCaledon friends, that Turtle Green was facing an early sunset, we all expressed our fear that Caledon would once again be relegated to the “have not” community we had once been before she’d opened shop.  But thankfully my family said “yes” and so I stepped up and took on the challenge of running Turtle Green!  The plan is to grow the business.  It is wonderful to have a committed and loyal group of customers, of course – but we need more local residents, neighbours and friends, to learn about and make the switch to plastic free shopping.  The African proverb says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together”  We hope you will join us on this journey and with your help, let’s make shopping in Caledon a (nearly) plastic-free experience!