A national campaign to get people asking for tap water refills instead of buying plastic bottles of water has launched in Lewes. The ‘Refill’ scheme encourages cafes, pubs, shops and other outlets that are willing to offer free water refills to anyone with a reusable bottle to display the ‘Refill’ logo. Outlets can also join a mobile phone app that tells anyone where their nearest ‘Refill station’ is.

Over 30 businesses in Lewes have signed up to the scheme so far, with more joining every day. You can download the Refill app at refill.org.uk

Plastic bottle facts
One million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and it’s predicted that figure will rise by another 20% by 2021. In the UK, 35 million plastic bottles of water are being bought every day, of which nearly 16 million aren’t being recycled.

However, it’s estimated that if just one in 10 people in the UK refilled once a week, there would be 340 million fewer plastic bottles a year in circulation.