Success for the first ever #WorldRefillDay

#WorldRefillDay is a global public awareness campaign to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste. City to Sea, along with thousands of individuals, community groups, sustainable businesses and NGOs, use the day to call on big businesses and governments, telling them that we need to see action to tackle plastic pollution and reuse is the solution.  

I was thrilled to work with City To Sea on their 2021 PR campaign for World Refill Day, working in tandem with Emma from Bristol-based You Say Agency and in-house media & policy manager Steve Hynd. Together with Jo Morely, in-house Head of Marketing & Campaigns, we planned and implemented our media relations strategy, leading up to ‘wall of noise’ on the day itself (16th July 2021).

We were all thrilled with the results; the campaign went way beyond everyone’s wildest expectations, delivering an estimated, potential media reach of one billion.

The City To Sea social team also recorded more than 10,000 individual posts on social media using #WorldRefillDay.

World Refill Day in Wales

In Wales, I shared the news that Pembrokeshire’s multimillion-pound Bluestone National Park Resort would be banning the sale of plastic bottled water.

The decision is part of a long-term sustainability drive for Bluestone. Two years ago, all staff were given reusable drinks flasks, which reduced plastic water bottle and disposable coffee cup use in staff areas by over 12,000 items per year.

Now the decision to remove all plastic bottled water will prevent a further 25,000 plastic bottles from being used each year; instead, visitors will be encouraged to prepare for their visit by packing a reusable water bottle and filling up for free. Guests are also offered a 10% discount on hot drinks if they bring a reusable cup to any of the resort’s outlets instead of asking for a takeaway cup.

Visitors to the resort will also be encouraged to download the Refill app, which allows them to search for hundreds of tap water Refill stations around Wales, where they will be able fill up on the go, for free.

Bluestone’s announcement came just as as the result of a new poll commissioned by City to Sea, in partnership with Friends of the Earth, found that 61% of adults in Wales said that the Covid-19 pandemic made them realise that spending time outdoors / in nature is important to their sense of mental wellbeing.

But the research - undertaken especially for #WorldRefillDay - also found that these crucial mental health benefits are being put at risk as a result of the prevalence of plastic pollution.

More than half of Welsh responders (55%) reported feeling angry, or frustrated (45%), about seeing plastic pollution when spending time outdoors / in nature.

The research also showed that almost three quarters (74%) agree they would like to see more refill / reuse options available.

To this end, I have been working with the Refill Wales team to get more Welsh businesses signed up to the Refill app; take a look at this short video which I commissioned with @willdotbarker, to find out more.

Beyond World Refill Day

The UK public can support World Refill Day all year round, by reducing single-use plastic and finding out what they can refill or reuse near them. To make life easier for people that are looking to take steps to reduce plastic, City to Sea’s free, award -winning Refill app, now lists more than 200,000 locations around the world where people can eat, drink and shop without the pointless plastic. 

The Refill app has already been downloaded more than 350,000 times and saved millions of items of single-use plastic items from ending up in our waste stream, demonstrating the collective power of individual action on the planet.

To find out more, visit: https://www.refill.org.uk.