One of PACT’s many past projects was a scheme that was both a thirst quencher and a plastic buster! 

PACT was among the first organisations to team up with City to Sea, to join their national Refill scheme.

Refill is all about reducing single-use plastic bottles by shops, cafes and other businesses signing up to fill your water bottle with tap water, free of charge. 

It’s a simple way to prevent you having to buy bottled water when you’re out and about. 

Refill Eden 

When we heard about the national scheme, we loved the idea and wanted to get Eden in on the act.

Refill Eden was started in Penrith by PACT in late 2017 and spread out across the district, from Appleby to Alston. It was supported by Cumbria County Council, with a helping hand from our local Surfers Against Sewage team.

First, we recruited a team of volunteers, who then visited shops and other businesses in the district, explaining the scheme to them. Many decided to join, displaying the distinctive blue Refill stickers in their windows, signalling to passers-by that they were welcome to come in and get free water. 

The premises were also listed on the national Refill app, so you could search for the nearest place offering water refills, without having to wander around looking for the window stickers. 

The Refill app is available for download for free from your usual app store.

Here’s the list of premises that signed up to the scheme originally. (The list hasn’t been updated in recent years, and some of the business are no longer trading, but we’re very grateful to them for taking part.)

Penrith and nearby

Abbott Lodge Jersey Ice Cream, Clifton
Beckside Books, St Andrew’s Churchyard
British Heart Foundation, Market Square
Carlisle Eden Mind charity shop, Angel Lane
Clarke’s Fusions, Little Dockray
Cosy Cup, Devonshire Arcade
Crafty Baker, Devonshire Arcade
Cumberland & Westmorland Herald, King Street
Dockray Hall, Great Dockray
Dog Beck (Wetherspoons), Southend Road
Eclectic, Angel Lane
Eden Gallery Tea Rooms, St Andrew’s Churchyard
Fell Bar, King Street
Hudson Electrical, Great Dockray
Janey Macs Cafe at Eden Rural Foyer, Old London Road
Jill’s Beauty Salon, Little Dockray
Llama Karma Kafe, Brougham (A66)
Maggie’s Bakery, Sandgate
Nail Bar & Beauty Lounge, Little Dockray
Newcastle Building Society, Market Square
Penrith Library
Penrith Town Council offices, Friargate
Penrith Posters, Market Square
Pizza Piatto, King Street
Sam Scotts, Little Dockray
Tinkerpok, Sandgate
Tourist Information Centre, Middlegate
Costa and Premier Inn nationally have also said they’ll give free refills.

Appleby

Appleby Travel, Boroughgate
Carlisle Eden Mind charity shop, Boroughgate
Tourist Information Centre, Moot Hall, Boroughgate

Alston

Quite a few outlets around the town, but we didn’t have an exact list. Look out for the blue window stickers!

Shap

Abbey Coffee Shop
Old Courthouse

Kirkby Stephen & nearby

Low Greenside Farm Campsite

Other places around Eden

Kirkoswald Community Shop
Maulds Meaburn Village Institute

 

More about the refill scheme

Refill is a national scheme, started by City to Sea in Bristol.

The aim is to reduce demand for single-use plastic bottles in our area, which will hopefully cut down on litter, and stop discarded plastic getting into our rivers, lakes and oceans. It also encourages people to think about other plastic packaging they use, and how they can reduce that, too.

How to get a free refill

Just go into any premises that has the Refill sign or is listed on the app, and ask!

What’s the problem with plastic bottles?

We use 13 billion plastic bottles every year in the UK. That’s causing a few problems:

A lot of plastic bottles end up as litter, and many make their way into the oceans. They break up into smaller and smaller fragments and marine creatures eat them. Now, one in every four fish has plastic in its flesh, so we’re eating plastic, too. About a third of all the plastic in the ocean is plastic bottles.

Nearly half of the plastic bottles we use don’t get recycled. Five and a half billion of them end up in landfill, as litter, or incinerated. Some plastic bottles, especially coloured ones, aren’t easy to recycle. We don’t have the ability or capacity in the UK to recycle all the plastic we use.

Making all these plastic bottles uses a lot of energy, contributing to climate change. It takes 162g of oil and seven litres of water to make a one-litre disposable PET bottle, which amounts to the release of 100g of carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas*.

(* See https://www.citytosea.org.uk/the-problem-with-plastic-pollution/)

Could your premises be a Refill point?

It’s easy to join the scheme… simply sign yourself up on the Refill app.