Wellington businesses back free water refills scheme
Businesses in Wellington have signed up to do their bit to fight climate change by offering free water refills.
Refill Wellington launched on Monday with a group of volunteers visiting businesses in the town centre to sign them up as refill stations.
Cafes, bars, restaurants and other businesses were asked to sign up to the free refill app and put a sticker in their window alerting passers-by to the fact they’re welcome to fill up their bottle for free.
It’s estimated that around 7.7 billion plastic water bottles are bought across the UK each year, resulting in substantial amounts of single-use plastic waste ending up in our oceans.
Refill Wellington is being led by Wellington Town Council, with support from Telford & Wrekin Council.
Wellington Town Councillor Paul Davis said: “Plastics, including single-use plastic bottles, are now one of the most frequently found type of litter in the UK. You don’t have to look far to find them littering our own towns and green spaces.
“We’re delighted with the turn out from volunteers today and I’d like to thank them and the businesses that we signed up.
“Refill Wellington will give us all the opportunity to help make reduce this type of litter while having the bonus of saving us all money."
Impact
Councillor Hilda Rhodes, cabinet member at Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Refill Wellington and to have been here today to sign up new Refill Stations.
“We’re looking forward to working with the Town Council and local community to reduce single-use plastic in the area.
“There’s already lots of great work going in the borough with many people working to help reduce single-use plastic.
“The Council is playing its part by reviewing all the materials and products we use and to cut out single-use plastic wherever possible.”
Refill Regional Coordinator James Watt said: “We’re so excited that Wellington is joining the Refill movement and making a real difference by reducing reliance on single-use plastics.
“Every time we refill a re-usable bottle we save our own money and the planet’s resources, and all those individual refills add up to a huge impact. It’s great to see so many local businesses supporting Refill Wellington by signing up to provide free refills.”
More than 15 businesses signed up as Refill Stations during the Action Day, including Nanny’s Craft Bakery, Beatons tearoom, Dun Cow, Market Hall Café, Newsline, the Steaming Mug, Ken Francis butchers, the Cake Box, Maddie’s and the Pheasant Inn.
