As a supporting partner of the Refill campaign, SodaStream, the world’s leading sparkling water brand, has marked National Refill Day (NRD) by publicly supporting Bristol Water for the unveiling of their first public fountain. The sparkling water specialist is the only food and drinks business to be supporting the campaign.
The new water fountain, located on Bristol’s College Green, is the first of eight fountains to be installed by Bristol Water in partnership with the local council and will aim to tackle plastic pollution and waste, in addition to hydrating the city’s citizens. SodaStream announced its partnership with Refill, the award-winning initiative run by community interest company, City To Sea, late last month.
The National Refill Day event on Wednesday 19th June brought local politicians and members of the public together to promote reusable water bottles and the 200+ Refill stations offered in Bristol alone. SodaStream’s renowned bottle cage was on display at the event, highlighting how much plastic waste can be saved by using a SodaStream. As part of the collaboration, SodaStream is offering a discount on special-edition machines for NRD in June.
Michael Laws, marketing manager at SodaStream UK, said:
“It’s been fantastic to be part of National Refill Day as a supporting partner of Refill. There was a lot of interest from the public on Nation Refill Day surrounding our cage which showcases the 1,282 single-use plastic bottles people can save through purchasing a SodaStream. We are committed to tackling the issue of plastic waste and its impact on our environment, so it was a natural step for us to partner with Refill”
Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea said:
“It’s been great partnering with SodaStream during the Refill campaign who share our goals of stopping plastic pollution at source. Bristol Water’s eight fountains will prevent 50 miles of plastic bottle waste and save local people half a million pounds a year. In the UK alone, we consume 13 billion plastic bottles a year – and despite having some of the best quality drinking water in the world, 7.7 billion of them are plastic water bottles. Nearly half of those bottles are not recycled, with more than 15 million littered, landfilled or incinerated every day. We’re expanding the campaign internationally this year and partnerships like this really help our mission.”
Refill aims to prevent plastic pollution at source by making it easier to reuse and refill water bottles on the go instead of buying single-use plastic. The campaign works via a location-based app, connecting people who are looking for water with thousands of local businesses, transports hubs and public spaces where they can refill their bottles for free.
The campaign has grown rapidly since launching in Bristol four years ago – there are now over 225 local Refill Schemes across the UK – covering everywhere from Penzance to Edinburgh and in 2019 the campaign will be launching internationally.