Everybody, I think, gets the logic of refilling – it’s pretty straightforward. But sometimes we’re tripped up by very strange concerns. A report commissioned by Brita UK (the water filter people – see below) and Keep Britain Tidy revealed that almost a third of millennials (29 per cent) said they don’t use refillable water bottles because they find them ‘too heavy’. Puh-lease. I think we can bear the weight! Besides, refilling, replenishing, decanting – however you prefer to describe it – is a game-changer. Give it a chance and it’ll soon be embedded in your daily routine.
The refillable culture was once completely instinctive. Only a generation ago, mandatory deposit schemes for bottles and refillable containers were commonplace. In fact, the system was set up to work this way. But soft drinks manufacturers in particular didn’t like this sustainable status quo, and by 1979 Coca-Cola and Pepsi had between 1.5 billion and 1.7 billion plastic soft drinks bottles on the US market, and were making inroads into other territories.70 The records show that they had to lobby quite hard for equal shelf space with refillables (namely glass), raising challenges on competition and unfair trade grounds. It worked: acts were amended, legislation changed and plastic bottles began to flood into our lives. As consumers, we took to them – too well, in fact.
Refill culture never quite died out in the way, I suspect, many multinationals wish it had. If you’ve lived in one of the determinedly green constituencies – Hay-on-Wye; Totnes; Brighton; Hebden Bridge (I’ve lived in two out of the four) – someone you know will possibly have had the same laundry detergent bottle for fifteen years, and every few months will assiduously fill it up at their wholefood store’s refill station. And all power to them.
We need to join them, because when it comes to refills there’s a sense of use it or lose it. Anita Roddick, the irreplaceable force in UK ethical business and founder of The Body Shop, used to claim that, in the early days, she offered the store’s shampoo and conditioner refill service because she didn’t have money to buy extra bottles (this is a useful point, by the way, if you are contemplating a beauty start-up!). Even so, as the business grew, the refill model remained.
In 2002, however, The Body Shop stopped refilling due to lack of interest: only one per cent of customers were using the service. But major high-street brand MAC Cosmetics runs a ‘Back to Mac’ scheme, offering a free lipstick for every six empty lipstick containers you return to a MAC store or send in to MAC online.71 Today we need to support companies that offer refills, and encourage new ones by showing them that this is what the market demands. In short, embrace refillables as enthusiastically as you can.
First, let’s tackle the two major causes of concern and eliminate them from your plastic diary: single-use takeaway coffee cups and plastic water bottles.
BUY A REFILLABLE COFFEE CUP
Coffee culture has gone crazy in the UK over the last twenty years. By 2025 the number of coffee shops is forecast to increase from 20,000 to 30,000,72 and unless we do something, that means more cups. This is horrifying. Already the total amount of annual coffee cup waste in the UK is enough to fill the Albert Hall.73
Many of us assumed that, because they look paper-y, coffee cups could just be plonked in recycling bins along with newspapers. Not so fast. The fact that the 2.5 billion coffee cups produced in the UK every year are not easily recyclable came as a shock. But once I’d seen single-use coffee cups being made, the reason why was less mysterious. To make them leak-proof and heat-resistant, plastic is poured onto paperboard and the materials are fused together. The cups are then punched out of the laminated cardboard by machines. It’s a rapid-fire production process. The cup is in use for the time it takes you to drink your beverage and then they’re binned, not very successfully. Only two paper mills in the UK have the technology to separate the plastic from the board. I suspect they’re rather busy. Only one in 400 disposable coffee cups are recycled.74
Takeaway coffee cups come with an added complication: the lids are rarely taken into consideration, but they are single-use plastic and even less likely to be recycled than the cup itself. That’s saying something.
Opt out of this craziness as soon as you can by investing in a refillable. Sometimes this can seem like a considerable investment as some tend to be pricey, but you could consider it a saving, as you can make a tea or coffee at home and take it with you on your commute. Cabin crews are not receptive to making you a brew in your own cup. Understandably.
I favour a Keepcup. This Australian brand made from polypropylene earned its stripes on university campuses and has become one of the breakout designs of the refill movement. There are a couple of things I like about Keepcups. Baristas like them because they’re designed to fit under a coffee machine. Sounds obvious, but I don’t want to be the one holding up the queue in the morning, glowered at by an angry barista. It also means that they’re not tempted to use a disposable cup to make the coffee, pouring it into your refillable (which completely defeats the object). The design is also really well thought through, and to be honest, I think it’s the coolest, but check out other similar makes and models, especially e-coffee cups made from bamboo rather than plastic.
BUY A REFILLABLE WATER BOTTLE
As far as I’m concerned, the need to get away from single-use bottles of water can’t be overstated. UK households get through 13 billion plastic bottles a year, including all beverage bottles and toiletries. But of that total, 7.7 billion are water bottles. Your plastic diary is likely to record three bottles for every adult per week (based on averages). Even if it’s less than that, get yourself a refillable water bottle. We’re on the cusp of a water revolution that will hopefully spell curtains for billions of single-use bottles.
I’ve road-tested a few refillable water bottles. I was looking for one that didn’t tip down my front when I absent-mindedly took a drink, or leak in my bag (I’ve experienced both). There are some covetable, highly polished, expensive-looking ones around but I’d only worry about scratching and scuffing. My favourite is from Klean Kanteen, as it’s robust and very reliable and doesn’t leak. When I go running I switch to a lightweight plastic refillable that fits around my hand.
There’s a lot of research that shows that more people would refill from the tap if their refillable bottle had a filter. To which I reply, what are you waiting for? There’s plenty on the market that tick this box. Bobble is a great on-the-go water bottle complete with a filter.
WATER REFILL STATIONS
Once you’ve got your bottle, where do you refill it when you’re out and about and thirsty? In 2015 a handful of cafes in Bristol started offering tap water refills to anybody carrying a refillable bottle. By the spring of 2018 this had ballooned to 1,600 different venues, stretching from Dumfries and Galloway to the Isles of Scilly, all displaying a blue sign signalling that they’d be happy to fill up your bottle. These include Costa Coffee and Premier Inn (part of the same group). Refill.org.uk will point you in the direction of refill participants near you, or anywhere you’re planning to travel to. In practice, whether or not they’re part of the scheme (and why wouldn’t they be?) most restaurants and cafes are happy to fill up a bottle with fresh drinking water for you. And it’s not only the hospitality industry that is cottoning on: the first high street chain to offer itself as a water station was Neal’s Yard, the organic cosmetics chain.
WATER FOUNTAINS
If you’re shy about asking at a cafe, soon you’ll be able to fill up at public water fountains as increasing numbers of local authorities commit to putting them in place. Drinking fountains have a long and venerable history. In 1859, in response to an outbreak of cholera, well-heeled London residents formed the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, and private money paid for the first drinking fountain. By the end of the nineteenth century there were 800 drinking fountains in London. Lucky them (apart from the cholera).
I’m really glad drinking fountains are coming back into vogue – theoretically at least, as they are yet to be installed. Among others, Michael Gove and Sadiq Khan have signalled their commitment to installing a new generation of water fountains across London in the fight against single-use plastic water bottles. As I write this, in late April 2018, Reading Council has just announced a collaboration with Thames Water to provide a network of drinking fountains. When we do eventually get them, don’t necessarily expect to see the old Victorian repro style, complete with cherubs and curlicues: next-generation water fountains are hands-free bottle-filling stations, ergonomically fashioned to fit reusable water containers, complete with automatic sensors that stop the flow of water when the bottle is full. Can’t wait!
POSH WATER
In my own home I keep it low-tech and just use the tap, although I have recently bought a copper water jug. I’m a big fan of UK tap water – it has the highest treatment standards in the world, and they are higher than bottled water. But I’m always surprised at the vehemence with which some of my friends take against it. There is some research that suggests the type of tap water you like is derived from early geography. So if you grew up in Derbyshire, for example, you’re predisposed to a peaty taste. For those repelled by tap water, you can always refill from a filter jug like a Brita. Or you can go really high end. The Ovopur water filter comes in at a cool £595, is made from porcelain by Aquaovo and has an AquaCristal filter that lasts up to four months. In the UK it is distributed by Stokes Tea & Coffee.
JUICE IT
Once you’ve got into the habit of buying loose, unwrapped fruit, if you are big fruit juice consumers in your family, the next step is to acquire a juicer and cut down on fruit juice bottles and other packaging. Fruit juice is predominantly sold in Tetra Pak cartons, and the packaging giant produces 184 billion single-use cartons annually. These may look like paperboard but they contain 20 per cent polyethylene and 5 per cent aluminium, as well as the plastic spout and lid, and I still see a lot of them thrown into paper recycling. To be fair, Tetra Pak has invested heavily in recycling collection points in the UK (for link, see here), but they are a complex form of packaging that takes a lot of energy to reprocess.
Much better to start juicing at home and bypass packaged juice in Tetra Pak containers completely.
BULK-BUY AND REFILL SYSTEMS AT HOME
Reusable water bottles and a Keepcup or two are the obvious household essentials. The next step is to set up and buy into other refill systems that can really make a dent in your plastic consumption. Refilling and/or buying in bulk, to decant into reusable containers-for-life at home, is preferable to simply switching to a brand that uses ‘biocompostable’ plastic in their packaging: you will still have to consign all those smaller containers to recycling, biodegradable or not (see here in chapter 16, Squad Goals, however). By switching to buying in bulk-size quantity and using sturdy, refillable containers-for-life, you will cut down on your plastic consumption considerably more radically.
You need to know what’s really practicable within your routine and your space. The potential with refillables is that you get into a habit that you can sustain. Start by clearing a couple of shelves or a cupboard in the kitchen, garage, utility room or garden shed, if you are lucky enough to have any of these, and dedicate it to refill containers. By starting slowly, you’ll save yourself from splurging on expensive Kilner jars and refill kits – always a temptation. I’m only a step away from trying to turn myself into a zero-waste Instagram princess!
Buying in bulk and/or refills is ideal for household cleaning and laundry products, and also for dry, store-cupboard staples – grains, flour, nuts, oils, and so on – not only less plastic packaging by a mile, but it could make you some savings, as buying loose items means you’re not paying for a fancy brand name on a packet of chick peas or self-raising flour.
LAUNDRY AND HOUSEHOLD CLEANING REFILLS
To get started, invest in the largest-size containers of eco-brand laundry, household cleaning fluid and washing-up liquid, fabric conditioner and shower wash, for example – Ecover and Faith in Nature are two brands with a long tradition in refills, so you could buy large containers of their eco cleaning or toiletry products. Then, when you need to refill, locate your nearest health food or natural store that provides a refill service for these or similar products and brands. There’s been a recent resurgence in stores offering refill shopping, and this is great news. The Whole Foods Market chain, for example, offers refills on Ecover.
Check for your nearest refill shopping options at http://plasticisrubbish.com/2015/08/16/refill-stores/
JUST ADD WATER
Alternatively, consider a switch to household cleaning products in concentrated form – soaps and cleaners, including laundry liquids and detergents. These are supplied as small sachets of active ingredients, which you simply mix with tap water and decant into refillable, reusable polypropylene cleaning bottles with trigger sprays.
The ‘refill entrepreneurs’ behind these new products are smart: not only are they doing their bit to help the planet and reduce plastics, but they are also aware that it’s a waste of resources and money to transport weighty bottles of conventional cleaning solutions that are mostly made of water – which the customer can simply add at home.
Check out Splosh.com to start you off with a set of refillable bottles and concentrates.
JOIN THE BULK-BUY REVOLUTION: ZERO-WASTE SHOPPING
When I do my shopping now – wherever possible from small, independent shops – I’m always keen to know whether the retailer plans to embrace zero waste. Most express ambition, but are worried about the practicalities and the expense. Granted, it’s not something that can be done overnight: it takes a lot of time and thought to de-package different lines and to look after perishable stock, especially foods and cosmetics. Our job as shoppers and plastic-reducers is to prove to small businesses and the larger retailers alike that we are the market, and that the market is there. That means showing commitment to zero waste by buying into refilling. If you’re lucky enough to have a zero-waste shop near you – go!
Happily, though, over the last year the groundswell of support for turning the tide on plastic has led to some pretty cool new businesses devoted to unpackaged goods which you can buy in bulk. It took me several months to visit the latest branch of the Australian chain Source, in west London. It was a revelation.
These next-generation zero-waste stores are worlds away from the old-fashioned, sack-on-the-floor health food shops where you had to scoop your pulses and flours (and the odd weavil) into bags, which was all pretty uninspiring. From the machine that produces freshly ground nut butters (without added salts, sugar and fat), to the hoppers full of dried goods, from pasta to pine nuts; to the mini grain mill, the kombucha and different sorts of maple syrup on tap . . . My visit to Source not only replenished my food cupboard, but was an inspiration. It was also a tremendous relief not to have shop in fight mode, permanently alert to and disgruntled by plastic being foisted on me.
Many of the small, independent health food and organic grocery stores will sell both fresh and dry, store-cupboard foods loose and by weight. Whole Foods Market stores have a wide range of dry products to buy in bulk. Check online for local stores offering loose products:
• http://plasticisrubbish.com/2015/08/16/refill-stores/
• https://thezerowaster.com/zero-waste-near-you/
• https://www.beunpackaged.com/
And a number of online retailers are beginning to offer bulk home delivery services:
• Zero Waste Club, Organic Plastic Free Grocery https://www.zero-waste-club.com/
Bring your own containers, or pack in paper bags to bring home and decant into jars. On this note, a tip on kitchen kit – I recommend that you have a funnel and a ladle on hand for this task!
Bulk-buy the following and save on packaging: rice, grains, flours, pasta, soup mixes, beans, cereals, nut butters, sugars, dried fruits, nuts and seeds, snacks and treats. Bulk-buy loose teas and coffee, too, also herbs, spices, salts and peppercorns.