Aqua Libra Co Supports World Refill Day

Aqua Libra Co is working towards minimising human impact on the environment. Our products are helping to reduce the demand for single-use plastics, and our technology consumes a fraction of the energy used by kettles and refrigerators.

At Aqua Libra Co, we’re committed to promoting and facilitating a refill culture.

“From little ripples, mighty waves flow”

This is the mantra of City to Sea, the environmental agency campaigning to prevent plastic pollution by eliminating the demand for single-use plastic products.

City to Sea was established in Bristol, six years ago. The small group of passionate environmentalists, whose geographical parameters were initially restricted to Bristol, have already made a huge and far-reaching impact on public attitudes to single-use plastic. Through dedicated campaigning and gritty determination, City to Sea have become a global influencer.

The Refill Revolution

In 2016, Nat (City to Sea founder), Olivia, Thomas, and Gus won the Geovation Water Challenge. The team pitched their idea of an app to pinpoint and endorse free tap water refill points nationwide. With the Community Award prize of £1,000, City to Sea were able to develop the app and the campaign.

This is how the scheme works. Organisations sign up as a refill station – for cold and hot drinks, take-away food, groceries, cleaning products etc. They put a sticker in the window to signal their participation, and the venue is featured on the app.

Reduced packaging costs and increased turnover from the free advertising are having a positive financial impact on many of the businesses taking part in the Refill Revolution.

As of June 2021, there have been approximately 300,000 app downloads, and more than 30,000 locations have joined the Refill Revolution.

Single-use bottles and coffee cups

In 2019, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee reported that 2.5 billion coffee cups were being thrown away each year in the UK, and that just 0.25% of them were being recycled.

Recycling, though, isn’t a solution to the problem of plastic pollution. Plastics are made of polymers that break down as they’re melted and restructured, so a certain amount of virgin material is required in every batch. Plastics take many years to decompose, and as more and more plastic is made, the net amount is rapidly increasing.

Now for some good news. As a result of the Refill Campaign, an estimated 100,000,000 bottles have been prevented from entering the waste stream.

And there’s more good news. A single Aqua illi or Aqua Alto tap will dispense as much as 45 litres of hot or cold drinking water per hour. That’s the equivalent of 90 500ml plastic bottles or up to 180 disposable coffee cups.

For more information about how Aqua Libra Co water dispensers can contribute to a plastic-free world, call us on 0800 080 6696 or email hello@aqualibra.com