Local campaigner starts ‘Refill Frome’ scheme

A LOCAL campaigner, Josie Shillabeer, is calling on people to refill their water bottles as part of her ‘Refill Frome’ scheme, by providing refill stations across the town.

“The impact plastic is having on the environment is becoming increasingly apparent with thanks to the media,” said campaigner, Josie Shillabeer. “It is scary to think that every single plastic item you have ever used in your life will take over 400 years to decompose, that is about four generations. As the items decompose, they release chemicals and tiny pieces of plastic into the environment, therefore the air you breathe, food you eat and water you drink is negatively affected.

“There are so many other processes involved in making, transporting, selling, recycling, disposing, etc. of the item that also have a negative effect, but let’s not get into those now.

“Ok, so now what? It is unrealistic for most people to cut all plastic from their lives overnight, but there are a few small free changes you can easily make right now. The first is to just become aware of how much plastic is part of your life, your clothes, food, homes, cars, etc. The second is to avoid unnecessary plastics, such as coffee cups, carrier bags, and water bottles.”

Refill Frome was set up in May 2017 by Josie Shillabeer after she attended a zero waste event and was enlightened to the impact of plastic. One speaker, Natalie Fee, spoke of a movement named Refill that aims to make free, safe water refills available to everyone, anywhere in the world. It is just one small change at an individual level but on a national level we could stop the production and disposal of 35 million bottles every year.

“So what can you do?” Josie continued. “Take a water bottle with you to work, to the gym, to town etc. and refill it. There are currently four designated refill stations attached to the scheme in Frome; The Cheese and Grain, Share a Library of Things, The River House and Frome Medical Practice.”

These appear on the refills downloadable app that enables you to find all participating refill stations in the UK.

If you would like more information about the scheme head to www.refill.org.uk or join on their Facebook page, Refill Frome. They are looking for more stations and volunteers all the time, so please get in touch through their Facebook page.