Earth Day: Here’s Why Refillution is Important
22 April 2024 14:39
Earth Day is celebrated every April, promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship. This year’s theme is ‘Planet vs Plastic’. As NI Water prepares to the celebrate the fifth anniversary of its ‘Join the Refillution’ campaign, it is reminding the public on Earth Day of how everyone can combat single use plastic pollution and the impacts that different varieties of single-use plastics cause on our environment and marine life.
Earth Day has a clear goal in mind and that is to reduce the production of all plastics in the world by 60% by 2040. One of these key goals is to try to stop the use of most or all single use plastics and advocate for a strict UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution. This is where NI Water is trying to help by encouraging the public to support its ‘Join the Refillution’ campaign.
Since the ‘Join the Refillution’ campaign was launched in 2019, almost 350 schools across Northen Ireland have shown great enthusiasm in supporting the fight against single use plastics by signing up to this initiative. Thousands of primary and secondary school pupils have changed habits, taking NI Water’s ‘Plastic Promise Pledge’ to always refill from the tap; always use a reusable bottle; and to always carry a reusable bottle. The success of ‘Join the Refillution’ in schools has exceeded all expectations, with NI Water having distributed over 50,000 reusable water bottles to pupils across the country to help schools with their plastic free quest.
NI Water’s ‘Join the Refillution’ campaign has also been embraced by all local councils across Northern Ireland, with some installing refill stations and encouraging hundreds of local businesses across their areas to support it. Most recently, Belfast City Council just installed new refill points at St George’s Market.
NI Water Education Officer Anna Killen commented: “Earth Day is a great reminder that we need to stop buying single use plastic bottles and instead refill a reusable bottle with tap water. NI Water’s ‘Join the Refillution’ campaign promotes a strong focus on the environment and NI Water is committed to tackling the problems caused by plastic bottles which block up our drains and pollute our rivers and seas. We know that 340 million plastic bottles per year would be saved if just 1 in 10 refilled just once a week. By switching to a reusable bottle, we can really make a positive contribution to help reduce plastic waste and protect nature. Every bottle you refill makes a difference.”
There are also lots of other ways in which we can reduce our plastic usage and help to promote a better environment for everyone.
1) Use re-fillable water bottles instead of buying plastic water bottles. Every year in the UK there is roughly 7.7 billion plastic bottles that are not recycled!
2) Purchase a glass or stainless steel drinking straw and bring it with you.
3) When cleaning dishes use a natural cloth and try not to use synthetic sponges or plastic brushes.
4) Always bring re-usable shopping bags when shopping.
If you are a business and would like to support NI Water’s ‘Join the Refillution’ campaign, contact your local council to register your interest. For more information, visit www.niwater.com/refillution-map/
If you are a school or a community group and would like to get involved in ‘Join the Refillution’ contact education@niwater.com
You can also follow us on social media @JoinRefillution @niwnews.
For more details visit www.niwater.com/refillution/
ENDS
Media enquiries to the NI Water Press Office via email to press.office@niwater.com