Everybody knows plastic is bad for the environment, but there’s no denying that grabbing a bottle of water on the go can be a convenient way to stay hydrated.
Now the London Mayor’s office is trying to help Londoners cut back on their plastic bottle habit - estimated at three bottles per person every week - by installing new drinking water fountains around the capital.
The equivalent of 16,000 plastic bottles have already been saved at a new water fountain installed at Liverpool Street station and shoppers have used a water fountain on Carnaby Street - one of London’s busiest shopping streets - 10,000 times a month over the summer.
Organisers now plan to add 20 more water fountains around the capital in 2018: including Ealing, Lewisham, Brixton, Westminster, Lambeth and Southwark.
Mayor Sadiq Khan says: “Water fountains are a simple but effective way to encourage Londoners and visitors to ditch plastic bottles and instead refill reusable ones.
“With the hot weather we’ve seen this summer, the demand is greater than ever for quick and easy ways of accessing free drinking water and I’m pleased to confirm the locations for the first 20 of our new public water fountains.”
The fountains are funded in partnership with the Zoological Society of London, which is running a campaign called #OneLess, encouraging consumer to cut back on their water.
Efforts to encourage consumers to refill bottles rather than purchasing new ones have been ramping up.
Earlier this month, 12 major shopping centres around the UK including Trinity Leeds, Gunwharf Guys and Westgate Oxford launched new schemes that allow shoppers to fill up their own reusable bottles for free at participating shops.
High street brands such as Lush, Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero, Pret A Manger and Krispy Kreme are among the brands displaying the “refill me” sign.
Shoppers can now enter the participating shops and ask to have a water bottle filled up without having to buy anything.
To find out where your nearest water London fountain is going to be installed you can search finafountain.org