Our reusable bottles are going places

Plastic pollution is one of the most widespread pollutants to our environment, with around 1.2 million plastic bottles used per minute across the world, and an estimated 700,000 littered every single day in the UK alone.

Whether it’s water bottles, coffee cups or food containers, by choosing to reuse, we can all save millions of pieces of plastic and keep our environment, oceans and communities plastic-free.

Thursday 16 June is World Refill Day. Aimed at preventing plastic pollution and helping people live with less waste, this is a global annual campaign run by City to Sea. It is not always easy to avoid buying single-use plastic when travelling, and with our staff providing on-site support to many of our clients, we have marked this year’s campaign by arming our staff with reusable water bottles and the information they need  to help reduce the number of plastic bottles that are sold and discarded in our environment as they travel.

Supplied by Ocean Bottle, our bottles and made from recycled stainless steel and recycled plastic, and they not only support our staff to avoid single-use plastic bottles and hot drinks containers, but they are also helping to fund the collection of plastic bottles before they enter the ocean.

We have been sharing tips on how best to reuse when we are on the move and travelling abroad. Here are some of our top ones:

Download apps to help you find nearby places to refill. Our Ocean Bottles come with a chip that links us to information on registered refill stations. Every time you use your Ocean Bottle at one of their registered refill stations, Ocean Bottles will then fund the collection of more ocean-bound plastic.

• We also like the Refill app, which helps you find places to eat, drink and shop with less waste.
• Did you know you can bring bottles through airport security as long as they are empty? Most airports have designated drinking water stations once you’ve gone through security, so make sure you have your bottle to hand to avoid buying a plastic bottle for your journey.
• Drinking water refill stations are now available across the world, so it’s a good idea to keep your bottle with you at all times. If you can’t find a refill station, try a hotel or restaurant – and don’t forget to fill your bottle up at breakfast.
• Where drinking water is not advisable, there are products available to sterilise the water, bottles with built-in water purifier and filters, or water purification tablets. We advise full research into these products and the safety of drinking water when you travel to ensure you remain healthy when abroad.

The problem with plastic bottles

It’s not just the discarded waste that is causing environmental damage when we buy bottled water. Bottled water is also almost 1,000 times more carbon intensive than drinking mains tap water and a 1 litre single-use plastic water bottle takes over 8 litres of water to produce. And plastic pollution is also causing a health crisis in poorer countries, with dumped and burned rubbish, especially plastic waste, responsible for the death of one person every 30 seconds in developing countries. See more on these statistics on the World Refill Day web pages.

Our mission to be champions for sustainability

We are committed to being a leader in the field of sustainable sports, music and entertainment travel, following and promoting good practice in sustainability, encouraging sustainable behaviour from our staff, and incorporating sustainability criteria into the procurement service of goods and services. Certified for ISO 20121:2012 Sustainable Event Management, we are able to support sports, media and touring organisations wanting to achieve sustainability throughout their supply chain. We help our clients design and manage group movements built on the most sustainable processes, and measure and report on their impact, enabling continuous improvement. Find out more about how we can support your business in the sustainable event management services pages of our website.

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