Around 50 Forward-thinking Bath businesses have signed up to the nationwide Refill tap water scheme that helps cut down on the use of single-use plastic bottles.
The scheme, which grew out of a campaign in Bristol, aims to make refilling a water bottle as easy, convenient and cheap as possible by introducing refill points on every street. 
Stickers are now appearing in participating shops and cafés promoting the scheme, which also uses an app to make it easy to locate refill stations and collect reward points.
Refill Bath co-ordinator Vipul Patel is working with volunteers to promote the campaign, which also promotes health hydration as well as reducing plastic pollution.
A staggering 36m plastic bottles are used in the UK every day – or 13bn a year. Yet only 58% are recycled.
Refill takes that view that while recycling plastic bottles is good, reducing the number used is even better. In the UK an estimated 800 plastic bottles a minute either end up in landfill or as litter, which too often makes its way into waterways and out to sea.
Among the 50 or so businesses to have already signed up is Bath & North East Somerset Council. Its café at the One Stop shop in Lewis House in Manvers Street is the first council venue to become a refill station.
Cabinet member for development and neighbourhoods Cllr Bob Goodman urged more businesses to take part in the scheme, which has developed a high profile due to media interest in plastic pollution.
The impact on the world’s oceans was highlighted in David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II TV series last year and Chancellor Philip Hammond launched a public consultation on a tax system for single-
Cllr Goodman said: “We welcome this scheme because it is part of a commitment to discourage and hopefully eradicate single-use plastic bottles, which we all know are a significant environmental issue.
“It is great that already around 50 Bath businesses have signed up to provide free tap water for anyone who wants to refill their bottles and I hope many more will join the Refill scheme.”
There are now more than 5,700 Refill points around the UK.
For more information about the scheme and to find out about the app go to
Find out more about plastic at www.bathnes.gov.uk/plastic
