Tap in to the Refill Revolution

It’s always interesting to hear what our Oxford Trust team get up to outside work. If you’ve noticed the giant illuminated tap sculpture made of plastic water bottles in Bonn Square, and wondered what it’s all about, our comms manager, Georgina Matthews (centre right) was involved in the launch of Refill in Oxford this week. Refill is a fantastic new environment-positive scheme and handy app to reduce the use of single-use plastic water bottles in the city.

We all know it’s handy to grab n’ go, and keeping hydrated is great for health and fitness, but think about it – is there a better way to quench our thirst than buying a brand new bottle every time? The tap sculpture has been built to raise awareness of the network of friendly Refill stations across the city where you can now fill up your water bottle for free, rather than buying a new single-use plastic one. It is a simple idea: Refill Oxford links people who want water to taps, with the aim of reducing the 7.7 billion single-use water bottles bought in the UK each year.

Thanks to an amazing team of volunteers and forward-looking businesses, Refill Oxford now has nearly 150 Refill stations across the city – in pubs, bars, restaurants, cafes, hospital outlets, both universities, the bus station, and even hairdressers. Participating businesses display a round blue-branded Refill sticker in their window or door. All the Refill stations are marked on a map which you can download as an app to your phone to find out where they all are, and access free tap water on the go.

The tap sculpture was conceived by local artist and environmental campaigner, Lois Muddiman. The illuminated water droplet is made up of 300 plastic water bottles – the number we use in Oxford every 8 minutes!!

It would be great if the Refill Oxford campaign could reduce that figure by getting more people refilling. Research says that if just 1 in 10 Brits refilled once a week, we’d save around 340 million plastic bottles a year. It’s good for the planet and that’s good for us! Plus it saves on spends, so you can Refill your wallet too…

If you feel inspired to join the nationwide #Refill Revolution, download the Refill app and make refilling your new normal. If you want to find out more, get in touch with Georgina on [email protected], visit their website, or look them up on Facebook or Twitter @refill_oxford.