Today the Mayor of London positioned himself as a global leader in the fight against ocean plastic pollution by announcing a scheme to reduce single-use plastic waste and improve access to tap water in London.
Over the coming months, the Mayor of London will be working with the #OneLess initiative and City to Sea to pilot a network of drinking fountains and bottle refill points across the capital. If successful, the scheme will go city-wide from the summer. Plastic bottles are also being removed from points of sale at City Hall.
Dr Heather Koldewey, Co-Director of the #OneLess project, said: “We are excited to be collaborating with the Mayor of London and City to Sea on this trial to increase public access to drinking water and enable a ‘refill’ drinking water culture in the capital. The average Londoner gets through 175 bottles of water each year – that’s over a billion on a city level. Many of these end up in the ocean, harming marine creatures and poisoning our food chain. This pilot scheme will help Londoners to make the switch from wasteful single-use plastic water bottles to refilling – good news for London and the ocean.”
The drinking fountains that will be installed as part of the pilot scheme have been kindly donated by MIW Water Cooler Experts. “We are extremely grateful to MIW for this generous contribution, without which this pilot would not be possible”, said Dr Koldewey.
MIW is a member of the growing #OneLess pioneer network, a group of venues, large and small businesses, campuses and retailers who are pioneering new solutions that will enable a ‘refill revolution’ in London. The #OneLess project has been leading the charge against avoidable plastic waste and ocean plastic since 2016, focusing on the pervasive single-use plastic water bottle.
“We are working to transform London into a city that no longer uses single-use plastic water bottles; an unnecessary item when we have clean and safe water available out of our taps”, said Dr Koldewey, adding that she looks forward to single-use bottled water “becoming a thing of the past.”
