An information hub for consumers and campaigners who want better public drinking water facilities and to be able to refill on the go

Latest News:
Frank's epetition, Turn Me On, to bring back public drinking fountains is now live on Bristol City Council's website. If you live in Bristol make sure you sign it! Visit:
http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/community/petition/681

Frank Water launches its new competition to find the best campaigning photo of a public drinking fountain that needs to be restored in the country. Visit the Turn Me On group page for details. The winner(s) will receive a year's supply of drinking water*.

Refill as a concept is a simple one. Why should we keep buying loads of plastic drinks bottles when we can reuse them? Wouldn't it be better to refill rather than buying expensive bottled water or soft drinks? Surely, we can do more as consumers and society to make the drinks industry more sustainable by reducing the carbon footprint and waste packaging that goes with the drinks we buy?

If you find yourself saying yes! then this website is for you. It is intended to be a single information hub for all things refill related. You'll find information for consumers to help you make the switch to refill. It brings together all the existing refill campaigns that are out there so that you can get involved. And it also has details of a range of ethical and environmentally friendly refill products to get you started.

Importantly, this site is an interactive community resource. You can start your own campaigns, share photos and videos, organise events and enter into discussions in our forum.

Our aim? We want to encourage people to refill rather than to buy single-use disposable bottles. Let's change the way consumers think and encourage more people to join the refill movement!

By joining the refill movement you can save money, reduce your CO2 emissions, cut the amount of packaging you use, and look after your health. Here are some ways you can get involved...

As an individual consumer
• Start by refilling an existing bottle or buying a refill bottle
• Ask your local cafes and restaurants if they will offer a refill service

As a campaigner or campaign group
• Post details of existing campaigns and resources on this site
• Take up a cause and set up your own campaign group
• Lobby for better amenities - e.g. to restore a local public fountain
• Persuade your friends, family and colleagues to refill as well

Are you a large company or organisation?
• Encourage your employees to join a campaign group
• Arrange discounts on refill products for your employees
• Install a mains fed water cooler for the office
• Serve tap water at meetings rather than bottled water
• Sign-up to a campaign group, like Refill@Work
• Become a ‘I Love Refill’ supporter and help fund clean water projects

As a supplier or manufacturer of refill products
• Let people know what you've got to offer on this site
• Give loads of special offers to people using this site!

In 2005, I founded Frank Water as an ethical bottled water company with a simple water-for-water concept: using sales of bottled water in the UK to fund sustainable clean water projects in the developing world.

Whilst bottled water has its place (like the emergency relief effort in Haiti), it is clear that more and more people want the drinks industry and the bottled water market in particular to be more sustainable. That is why we at Frank are supporting Refill as a movement. Refilling your plastic bottle (or using a refill bottle) with good old fashioned tap water saves money, helps the environment and keeps you healthy. We've put some facts and figures on our information pages that lets you know more.

We hope you find this website useful. Our aim is to bring all the refill information that is out there for consumers, suppliers and campaigners together in one place in a way that you can trust. If you think the site is missing something, please email refill@frankwater.com. Or better still, add some content yourself! You can post photos and videos, create events and campaign groups, and participate in discussions.

So, welcome to Refill and don't forget to join our campaign! We Love Refill.

Katie Alcott, February 2010

Read news stories relating to the refill movement and the sustainability of the UK soft drinks industry. If you want to comment on the articles, then set up a discussion using our forum.

3/3/10: What's Best for Kids: Bottled Water or Fountains? As the U.S. taste for bottled water grows, environmentalists have been trying to sell people on good old-fashioned—and free—tap water.

21/1/10: Go with the flow. The environmental case for mains-fed water coolers is looking stronger than ever.

2/1/10: Water refill stations follow ban on bottles. Water refill stations to appear at Hammersmith Bus Station and Tower Bridge Museum in London. The stations will provide on-the-go access to fresh, chilled, mains-fed water, in a project funded by Thames Water. The scheme comes shortly after a ban on the sale of bottled water in the Australian town of Bundanoon, a resident-led initiative thought to be a world first.

28/12/09: Bottled or Tap Water? BBC Radio 4 correspondent Mike Thomson investigates the growth of the industry with Today's guest editor Martin Rees and the British Soft Drinks Association's media director, Richard Laming.

19/11/09: Trafalgar Square's newly restored drinking water fountain springs to life. Visitors to Trafalgar Square can now quench their thirst for free at a newly restored drinking water fountain. This follows the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson's pledge to promote drinking fountains across the capital.

Nov 09: WRAP report on Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK. 63% of household waste is avoidable, costs £12b a year (£480 per household) and produces 20m tonnes of avoidable CO2 emissions. Bottled water accounts for 69,000 tonnes of avoidable waste at a cost of £48m per year

4/10/09: London's new drinking fountains a challenge to bottled water industry. Water machines at rail and bus stations to benefit commuters could cut use of plastics

	24/9/09: Fountains flowing in the capital again The drinking fountain is enjoying something of a comeback with the latest to be installed in London making its debut in Hyde Park.
	22/9/09: Scandic stops selling bottled water. Hotel group Scandic estimates that its decision to stop selling bottled water will reduce its carbon emissions by 160 tonnes per year. In autumn 2008, it decided to stop selling bottled water and shift to water dispensers that chill and filter the water. The water is served still or sparkling, poured directly into Scandic’s own bottles made of recycled glass.

28/8/09, BusinessGreen.com: Leak reveals Parliament wastes 12 tonnes of CO2 a year on bottled water. A report commissioned by Commons authorities into the Houses of Parliament's use of bottled water found that it uses over 21,000 bottles of water each year, resulting in a carbon footprint of 12 tonnes.

11/8/09: BBC accused of wasting £406,000 of public money a year on bottled water. Responding to a freedom of information request from the Guardian, the public broadcaster said it spent £406,000 annually on large bottles for its water coolers. The BBC refused to reveal how much it did spend on bottled water at the 103,000 events it held last year.

	31/7/09: New Yorkers invited to refill their water bottles at participating cafés, completely free of charge. TapIt is a community network founded in 2008.
	17/7/09: New campaign launched to get drinking water for children in parks. The Children’s Food Campaign is calling on local authorities to provide adequate drinking water in all public parks across the UK to ensure that children have access to free drinking water

	9/6/09: BSDA publishes first year progress report for The Soft Drinks Industry Sustainability Strategy launched in June 2008. The strategy focuses on climate change; waste and packaging; water; and transport.
	5/3/09: Council puts lid on bottled water. Leeds City Council claims it is saving more than £30,000 by cutting bottled water dispensers from many of its offices and using tap water for drinking instead.

13/2/09: Volvic and Evian go plastics-neutral Britain's top bottled water brands Volvic and Evian are to go plastics-neutral in the country's first ever true "closed loop" plastics recycling initiative

	29/11/08: Troubled waters: Why we fell out of love with bottled water (and how the industry plans to win us back). Interesting analysis of the debate around bottled water, tap water and soft drinks
	10-16/10/08: IPSOS-MORI Public Attitudes to Packaging 2008. 51% say they are personally concerned about the amount of packaging; 79% believe products are over packaged; and 82% agrees with the statement “packaging is a major environmental problem”.

10/6/08: Tap water vending machines could be installed in Tube and rail stations across London. They would allow commuters to refill their water bottles, either for free or for a small charge, under plans announced by Thames Water today.

May 08: www.watercoolers.co.uk. New evidence has now emerged that replacing bottled water coolers with mains fed systems in the workplace could reduce UK businesses carbon footprint by a staggering 68,593 tonnes per annum, representing a 70 per cent emissions saving.

17/4/08: Tap into water revolution. The Manchester Evening News and United Utilities are urging people across Greater Manchester to ditch bottled water and turn back to the tap. Further information available on the United Utilities website.

8/4/08: Venice in fountain drinking drive A new scheme to cut down on bottled water consumption, called 100% Public, is being launched to mark World Environment Day. Tourists will be given an empty water bottle with a map showing the location of 122 fountains around Venice.

6/3/08: Government to phase out bottled water. Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell today wrote to the head of every government department suggesting they should replace bought-in bottled water with tap water for all meetings in future.

25/2/08: Water on tap at every restaurant. The Evening Standard has launched a campaign to make London's tap water freely available in restaurants and bars. Companies who join the campaign will sign a pledge to offer and serve free tap water.

25/2/08: Green push for tap water. A Brighton councillor has encouraged restaurants and hotels to offer tap water over bottled. (Media Player).

21/2/08: 'There's no benefit to drinking bottled water'. Dame Yve Buckland, head of the National Consumer Council for water, explains why consumers should avoid bottled water in favour of tap water

18/2/08: Department for Health pouring away money on bottled water. A new report has revealed the Department for Health wasted almost £200,000 pounds on bottled water. The report ‘The taps are turning’, published today by Sustain finds that most Government departments and businesses are changing to tap water, but usually alongside continuing to buy bottled water.

9/1/07: MPs drink 250,000 bottles of water every year. 208,000 bottles of Commons own-brand water, produced by Hildon, are bought every year in the canteens, restaurants and bars of Parliament at a cost of £137,000 to MPs and their staff. They pay £1 for a litre glass bottle and 50p for a 500ml plastic bottle. An extra 31,200 small plastic bottles of still water are provided free to catering staff by the Commons authorities. Campaigners say it should be replaced with water coolers in the corridors filled from the mains and jugs of tap water at meetings.