Month: July 2016

Happy & Hydrated at PRIDE!

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At Bristol Pride we kept everyone happy and hydrated with Refill Bristol.

People were loving it! We had such a fun day and it was fantastic being able to provide the party goers with unlimited free tap water.

The gallery of pictures below speak for themselves how much fun was had!

Refill Bristol encourages people to carry refillable water bottles and top up with tap water for free at more than 200 Refill stations in the city. Founded by City to Sea, it’s all about reducing marine plastic pollution at source, by giving people an alternative to buying single use plastic water bottles.

Bristol Water put in a lot of hard work creating a Pop-up Water bar to bring extra refill station at events and festivals across the city, where normally water is in single use bottles and ridiculously expensive.

We don´t have a picture of the pile of single use plastic that was saved. But think; 2000 litres… that´s a lot of water bottles! 

It was so popular people came back through the day with comments such as, “this is the best bar I’ve seen all day” and, “what a great idea, it is so important to help stop dehydration on sunny days like this one.”

Now more people know about Refill Bristol, so lets hope they keep on refilling long after the hangover… Look out for the logo across the city and find us on Twitter

refill

See you at Redfest, St George Park

on Saturday 6 August for the next one!

Remember: Every refusal adds up!

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FREE water at Bristol Pride!

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Tomorrow – as in Saturday 9th July – I´m excited to say I´ll be working at Bristol Pride as part of Refill Bristol. Where we´ll be giving water – for FREE!

Free water at an event?  I hear you say… Yes!  This is thanks to Bristol Water and their very snazzy new water bar. Old school pumps, no generator needed!

As friends pointed out; not only will this saves heaps of single use plastic – it will encourage people to drink water – rather than more… beer!

Normally water can cost the same as beer at an event like this, so if you´re hardcore (unlike myself) you end up drinking more alcohol. Which is fun, but not great for the ol´ hangover situation!  And if it´s hot (rather than pissing down, you never know the sum might make a rare appearance…) it can be dangerous to not drink water. As we all know, the NHS have better things to deal with than dehydrated people because of ridiculous water prices.

“We are extremely excited to be launching our Refill Water Bar at Bristol Pride. Bottled water can cost up to 1000 times more than tap water and by refilling we are all doing our bit to cut down the amount of plastic waste that ends up in our oceans,” said Ben Newby, Customer Services and IT Director, Bristol Water.

And of course there is the plastic.. thousands of bottles prevented. Amazing!

Daryn Carter, Director of Bristol Pride added “Pride has always been a very ‘green’ festival and as soon as we heard about Refill we were keen to support the initiative and get more people engaged with the idea here in Bristol – and then spread the word to the global Pride network. We are delighted to be the first event in the city to have the Bristol Water bar, it means our visitors can stay hydrated for free and we can continue to reduce bottled water usage and cutting down on plastic litter and waste.”

So good on Bristol Water!! Check out their post and what they say about their new water bar here.

Remember…. Every refusal adds up!

Plastic Free July comes to Bristol!

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Back in February Rebecca founder of Plastic Free July got in touch wanting to meet up. I was honoured and jumped at the chance!  She was visiting the UK as part of a world-wide tour she´d been awarded by the Winston Churchill Fellowship.

Thankfully Rebecca is a keen cyclist, the best way to see Bristol by far!  So we spent the day together and I showed some of the best of Bristol.  Including Refilling as part of Refill Bristol.

We also did a #2minutebeachclean down on the River Avon. We exchanged stories, ate some of Bristol´s amazing food, drunk tea and had a lovely day!

Rebecca is such an inspiration having started Plastic Free July in 2011 last year 35,000 people across the globe took part. Amazing. I´m sure after her tour and all the people she has met along the way 2016 will be even better!

If you´re hearing headlines such as; there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish in just 30 years time... Learning we can´t “recycle” our way out of plastic pollution. Don´t get down!  Get involved in Plastic Free July!

 

Thank you Holy Spokes! For the loan and delivery of a bike for Rebecca.
Within 5 minutes of leaving the station, Rebecca was blown away by Incredible Edible in Castle Park
It was sunny, Rebecca carries her plastic free sun lotion. I’ll be ordering some of this
Lucky it was Wednesday, so the Farmers Market was on. It wasn’t lunch time, but Rebecca couldn’t resist!
I love the concept of the Bristol Pound & it’s “normal” for me to use it. So naturally we used it for everything we bought that day — with The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust – AU, Plastic Free July, Bristol Pound and St Nicholas Market in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Happy to fill Rebecca’s metal tin. It was as tasty as it looks!
Rebecca spots her first Refill Station!! At No 1 Harbourside
Refilling, it was gunna be a thirsty day!
Leaving No 1 Harbourside I couldn’t help but notice the plastic floating in the harbour….
Rebecca investigates…
Polystyrene balls floating in a single use Polystyrene take away box.
I had to show Rebecca Millennium Square’s water fountain, in it’s second year. It’s now had a proper spruce up and looks great! Check it out when you’re out & about, & thirsty!
Rebecca very excited to spot a tall ship
After our 2 Minute Beach clean Rebecca notes where some of the single use plastics originate
Salt cafe, another Refill Station. #refillbristol
A Bristol tour wouldn’t be a Bristol tour with out Stokes Croft.
Just round the corner, and we came across this. We were both as excited as we look!
Biblos on Stokes Croft, another Refill Station!
We said good buy back at the station and pose to say thank you to Beth for bringing us together! Rebecca & I both feature in Beth Terry’s must have new revised book with a forward by Jack Johnson. “Plastic Free. How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can too.” It’s available here, full of tips inspiring and funny stories!