It’s National Refill Day today (Wednesday 19 June) which is a public awareness day to mark the campaign, designed to reduce single-use plastic bottles by encouraging people to carry a reusable water bottle and refill on the go.
Part of
the campaign is highlighting where members of the public can find free drinking
water through the Refill app, with GTR’s Environment team signing up 33
retailers across the rail operator’s stations to support the project.
GTR’s
Environment team has been working with staff members that serve as Area
Champions for the Environment (ACEs) to encourage tenants at stations to join
the campaign.
On the
Southern network, Runaway Café in Lewes and the N+1 Bike Centre and Café at
Brighton have
signed up to the scheme.
On the
Thameslink route, AMT Coffee at St Albans has joined; Caffe Kimbo and La Baguette
Parisienne, both at Luton station, have also signed up.
Samantha Lear, Environment Manager for Govia Thameslink Railway, said:
“GTR is supporting Refill to help reduce plastic waste, an important issue which needs action on a personal as well as national level. We are so pleased to see so many of our retailers sign up as refill points with our teams of ACEs and hope that many more will follow soon.”
With the
campaign research showing that 71% of people feel uncomfortable asking for free
tap water when not making a purchase, Refill log all participating retailers on
their app so that consumers can find the closest shop, cafe or restaurant
taking part in the scheme.
According
to Refill, if 1 in 10 people in Britain refilled a bottle rather than buying a
single use plastic bottle just once a week, around 340 million plastic bottles
would be saved each year.
Natalie Fee, Founder at City to Sea, said:
“We’re really pleased that GTR are part of the Refill Revolution this National Refill Day! Their support makes it even easier for everyone to find free drinking water when travelling – meaning we can all save money and save the planet from plastic pollution in one go! People from all walks of life are carrying a reusable bottle now and with GTR making it easier for people to Refill, we’re rapidly doing away with the need to buy planet-polluting plastic bottled water!”
The
campaign is a partnership between Refill and Water UK run by City to Sea with
additional support from the English water companies, Chilly’s Bottles, Robeco
and the Mayor of London.
Refill
estimates that the project will save more than 100 million single-use bottles
from entering the waste stream by the end of 2019.
Retailers
at the following Govia Thameslink Railway stations have signed up to the
scheme:
Epsom
Luton
Luton
Airport Parkway
Bedford
St Albans
Brighton
Lewes
Blackfriars
Three
Bridges
East
Croydon
Letchworth
Garden City
Seaford
Berwick
Peterborough
St Neots
Littlehampton
West
Hampstead Thameslink
Elephant
& Castle
City
Thameslink
New Cross
Gate
Flitwick
Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia
Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and
Gatwick Express services as follows:
- Thameslink –
cross-London services between Bedford/Peterborough/Cambridge and
Brighton/Horsham/Littlehampton/East Grinstead, and between Luton/St Albans and
Sutton/Wimbledon/Rainham; plus services between London and Sevenoaks
- Great Northern –
services between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and
King’s Lynn
- Southern – services
between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor
Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford
International, Southampton, Portsmouth)
- Gatwick Express –
fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria
www.southernrailway.com, www.thameslinkrailway.com, www.gatwickexpress.com, www.greatnorthernrail.com