Exmouth café joins the growing ReFill Revolution to combat pollution from plastic bottles
09th April 2019
The Sundowners café in Exmouth is the latest location in Devon to join a growing campaign which reduces pollution from discarded plastic bottles by allowing people to top-up their refillable bottles with free tap water.
Café owner Helen Jenkins offers the complimentary ReFill service to both customers and passers-by, helping them to be healthy and hydrated on the go, as well as protecting the environment.
The ReFill campaign is supported by Recycle Devon, Keep Britain Tidy and South West Water, which has made 3,000 refillable stainless steel bottles available to communities in Devon and Cornwall.
More than 1,100 locations, such as cafes, hotels, restaurants and shops, are now registered with ReFill in Devon and Cornwall, allowing the public to replenish their water bottles for free – more than double the total last year. People can use an app on their phone to find out where the nearest ReFill point is, or look out for special signs in shop windows.
The campaign has already saved five million single-use plastic bottles from littering the landscape in the South West.
Alan Hyde, South West Water’s Head of Community Relations, and Jennifer Wellington, ReFill Devon Project Co-ordinator for Devon County Council, dropped in to the café, on The Strand in Exmouth, to congratulate it on becoming the most recent ReFill recruit in the county and to present Helen with some refillable and reusable bottles.
Helen said: “We’re delighted to join such a fantastic and worthwhile initiative. Everyone should do their bit to keep our community clean.”
To purchase a ReFill bottle for £7 email beachcaresouthwest@keepbritaintidy.org
Separately, South West Water is supporting Plymouth City Council’s Plan for Plastics by exploring how tap water refill points could be made more freely available in public places in the city. The plan, initially, is to have three in place this summer.
For further information visit www.recycledevon.org/RefillDevon