The recent wave of zero-waste stores — think Brooklyn’s Precycle and Austin’s (now-closed) In.gredients — may be well-designed, airy, and Instagram-worthy, but their novelty belies an important truth.

With a Mason jar in one hand, I scanned the row of large glass and plastic jugs lining the wall in front of me. Each contained a different soap or detergent. The array was dizzying. It was my first ...