Drinking tap water in India is not recommended in most areas. Luckily, refill stations are widespread in the subcontinent. Bring your bottle and start refilling! In this blog we explain how.
1. WATER REFILL MACHINES
Refilling purified and cool drinks for 5 rupies per literWhen the train stops, you can run in and out for a water refill
At some squares, stations and other public places you can refill your own water bottle directly at a machine. This will cost around 5 rupies per liter. Many hotels and museums also offer free filtered water. If they don’t have it on display just ask for it.
2. FREE WATER FOUNTAINS
At many places you will find public drinking fountains with signs indicating ‘drinking water’. We did not test this water in a lab, but we did not get sick of it either. This water is always free of charge and you will see many Indians drinking from them.
Typical drinking water tap at a train station Many people will use the same metal cup, so it’s smart to bring your own (cup or bottle)
3. ORDINARY TAP WATER
When traveling to any country where tap water is not potable, we recommend to bring a filter bottle, steripen or other filter. We are traveling in India with the Water-To-Go bottle. This enables you to refill at almost any tap and drink unfiltered water from restaurants. Then you never have to worry about buying plastic bottles.
REFILL IN INDIA
You may wonder if refilling is really necessary when you only travel a couple of weeks or months in India. Packaged bottled water is widely available and cheap (around € 0,20 per liter). And you don’t want to get sick because of contaminated water. But as a traveler, we feel you have a shared responsibility for your waste.
Many places lack a functioning waste management system, plastic waste is everywhere and many items end up burned instead of recycled.
So please:
Put in some extra effort for your water refills, while still using your head to assess the risks (e.g. does it look clean & trustworthy).
Don’t open free single use water bottles in hotels, trains, etc.
When ordering drinks, ask to serve it without a straw.
Water refills are only the first step. You may also want to bring or buy boxes for food parcels and a reusable cup for chai.
MORE REFILL IN INDIA TIPS
If you have more tips on how to refill in India, please leave your comment below. We would love to hear your thoughts.
Locate your drinking water refill spot, grab a coffee in your reusable cup on your way to work and shop without using single-use plastics. Today, Refill is launching a better version of the app and a new campaign called ‘no excuse for single use’. We are really excited about this. Refill will be the 1st app (as far as we know) to find where to eat, drink and shop without packaging. The free Refill app helps you to reduce plastic packaging. And you can help them too!
REFILL APP – WHAT’S NEW?
Click the icons on the map to find places where you can bring your own containers or buy items packaging free!
Image: Refill.org.uk
NO EXCUSE FOR SINGLE USE
You may wonder how many plastics items are being used worldwide. Thanks to Refill, we can share some numbers with you (sources are provided in the links).
One million plastic bottles are sold every minute around the world – a figure that’s expected to grow by 20% by 2021.
Refill started as a water refill campaign in Bristol in 2015. Refill is part of City to Sea, a Community Interest Company campaigning to prevent plastic pollution at the source. Bottled water is a serious issue in the U.K. and across the globe. However, the issue of plastic pollution is much BIGGER than bottled water. Therefore, the Refill Team decided to expand the app to all sorts of refills. Their vision is a world where everyone has the power to choose to reuse and refill wherever they shop, eat or drink. We totally support their work. Read more about Refill’s history.
JOIN: DOWNLOAD THE REFILL APP AND START REFILLING
Are you ready to join the #refillution? Download the Refill app (available for iOS and Android). The app already shows >30.000 places offering free drinking water globally.
Do you have your own café, shop or restaurant?
Register your venue as refill spot
Stimulate customers to bring their own boxes, reusable cups and bottles
Why would you sign up as a refill station? Because it really is an effective way to tackle plastic pollution at its source. But that’s not the only reason. Please read the story of eteaket, a beautiful Tea Room and Concept Store from Edinburgh, Scotland.
REFILL STATION STORY: ETEAKET FROM EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
BEING A REFILL STATION FITS THE ETHOS
Did you ever think about the waste of all those tea bags we’re using worldwide? Numerous tea bags have been found to contain particles of plastic. A single plastic tea bag can shed billions of particles of microplastics. Luckily this is not the case at eteaket. The team is constantly looking for ways to minimize their environmental impact and to help their customers do the same. For example, the tea is packaged in biodegradable Nature Flex and their tea bags are made from soilon, a cornstarch-based material that is fully biodegradable. The outer packaging for their tea bags and looseleaf canisters is also completely recyclable. And they are members of the Ethical Tea Partnership. Signing up as a refill station fits perfectly with the “eteaket ethos”.
SIGNING UP IS SUPER EASY
Being located in the UK, the team decided to list their two venues on the Refill app. Registering on the Refill app was straightforward and simple. Christine (store manager):“it took less than three minutes (the time it takes to brew a perfect cup of tea!). The Refill app was recommended to us by one of our customers!” Their advice to other businesses would be to take some time out today to join a movement which is good for you, good for your customers and good for the planet.
The copper sink in the middle of the room is where free water refills are available.
TAP WATER QUALITY IS AMAZING
We cannot yet speak of a wide ‘refill movement’ in Scotland, but it would be the perfect setting for the #RefillRevolution. At eteaket, they realised Scottish Water is some of the best in the world. Why add more waste to the landfills when you can enjoy world-class water straight from the tap?
BEING A REFILL STATION ENCOURAGES BIGGER STEPS
Putting your tap on the map is super easy and it helps to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles (made from PET). It fits well within a bigger plan to reduce the impact of single-use packaging. eteaket encourages its customers to minimize plastic waste, by offer a 25p discount if people bring their own reusable cup. Yeah! They also sell a range of travel mugs in-store, including keep cups, bamboo flasks and Mei Li Tea Time travel flasks.
The large assortment of reusable cups and travel mugs @eteaket
Christine: “A loose-leaf takeaway tea for only £1.65 is simply an offer too good to refuse; delicious, ethical and the perfect antidote to the ever-changing Edinburgh weather! With over 35 teas to choose from, what are you waiting for? Call into our store on 111 Rose Street for a life-changing cuppa that’s good for the planet!”
The weather in Amsterdam (HQ Refill Ambassadors) is pretty similar, so we know very well what tea can mean to you on a miserable grey rainy day!
READY TO SIGN UP AS A REFILL STATION?
We hope this story encourages other venues (bars, restaurants, shops, etc.) to list as a refill station too. It is fun! You can even economically benefit from it: new visitors enter your place for a free refill and might buy something else.
All you need is a tap, tank or jug with clean water.
Take a picture of your venue and list yourself to one or multiple refill apps.
In countries where tap water is non-potable, you can still become a refill station. By using water filters or by serving water from large tanks (e.g. 20 or 50L, on deposit). In these countries it is more common to charge a small fee for the water refills. Please drop us a line if you have any questions how to do this or what to charge.
In addition to Refill there are some other amazing refill apps with global coverage (like RefillMyBottle, Closca, mymizu). Ad there are some ‘local refill apps’. All of them are free to use and for signing up as refill station. If you doubt about which apps to sign up to, please contact us.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ETEAKET
Picture Copyright Chris Watt
eteaket was founded in 2008 by ex-lawyer Erica Moore. After a life’s too short moment, Erica travelled the world in search of quality loose leaf tea. Now 11 years later they have their Tea Room on Frederick Street in central Edinburgh, they export worldwide, wholesale across the UK and they have their Concept Store on Rose Street.
Christine: “We saw younger tea drinkers wanting somewhere contemporary and inviting to visit and learn more about tea. When we designed the store we asked our customers what type of things they would like it in. As a result, you can smell every tea in store, sample our teas from our cold brew station, enjoy a hot brew from our tea siphon and find unique and quirky tea accessories.
We have found it to be a great space for people who want to learn more about tea, it is fantastic for tea tastings (which we hold for free every Wednesday from 12-12.30), tea master classes and events based around wellness. We often have free Saturday morning Yoga or events with independent Scottish brands like Isle of Harris Gin (which is available to purchase via their click and collect service in store). If you find yourself in Edinburgh make sure to pop in and say hi. We would be delighted to take you on a journey into the world of quality loose leaf tea.”
The Refill app has been updated! Over the past couple of months, the Refill team (Refill.org.uk) has worked hard to make some adjustments to their app. Adding new refill stations has never been this easy. Over 30,000 refill stations are listed to the app, from London to Santiago de Chile. Will you add the next one?
HOW DO I ADD A NEW REFILL STATION?
Any businesses with a publicly accessible tap, that welcomes thirsty refillers, can be added as refill station. By signing up as a refill station you help to keep your area hydrated and free of plastic pollution. You can also add public fountains to the app. How it works:
Refill is on a mission to inspire social change: stopping plastic bottles at its source and making it easier to refill. Over the past years, this campaign has grown into a community with over 15,000 Refill Stations, which are listed in their app. How did this develop? What’s next? Time for an interview with programme manager Gus Hoyt.
INTERVIEW WITH GUS HOYT (G) BY HELLA HEKKELMAN (H)
H: Which places can be added as refill stations?
G: We want to be positive, fun and inclusive. Any businesses with a publicly accessible tap, that welcomes thirsty refillers, can be added as refill station. Public fountains can also be added to the map.
A Refill Pump in a bar (Image: Refill)
Using the Refill Pump (Image: Refill)
H: And how does this work?
G: Our free Refill app is designed to find water on the go. Businesses have to create a free profile and are added to the map. With the specially designed window stickers local business owners show their commitment. The sticker also lowers the threshold to ask for a free water refill.
Refill Station in a shop in Stapleton, UK (Image: Refill)
FROM 1 TO 15.000 REFILL STATIONS
H: Refill has grown from 1 to >15,000 refill stations in only three years. How did this develop?
G: It all began in 2015, when City to Sea was founded by Nathalie Fee. In the same year, Bristol had the European Green Capital award status. Refill was selected to be one of the test pilots and ended-up being one of three ‘Legacy Initiatives’ for the city.
Like most new ideas, we started small, and tested different models as pilots. Soon it became clear that the demand for refill stations was huge, not just in Bristol, but also in other parts. We tried out different (business) models before expanding. We built it up over the next year and started to grow in other parts of the U.K. It was hard work, especially at the beginning. In 2018 it exploded.
Finding funding was tricky as the initiative was new and investors wanted to see if Refill ran the test of time before committing.
Bristol Water Fountain (Image: Refill)
H: I saw on the app that some franchises are also added as refilling stations.
G: Yes, quite a lot actually. Costa Coffee was the first chain to join. Then Weatherspoons, Starbucks, Fullers, and some others. Also many smaller ones like Boston Tea Party, who just won the ethical café award this year for ditching single use coffee cups! The conversations take a long time but once you got them on board you’ve got a high number of refill stations.
H: Mmm, that seems to require a lot of patience, persistence and enthusiasm. What about you? How did this job fit in your career?
G: Haha, good question! Among other things I worked as scuba-diver and chef, trying to develop sustainable menus. Then my focus shifted to sustainable housing and other green projects, before getting elected as a City Councilor and serving as one of Bristol’s first assistant mayors (for the Green party). In 2016 the party lost its local seat, but the time was right and I could increase my commitment to Refill and think about expanding over the rest of the UK.
H: Interesting! Sometimes, unexpected situations have good outcomes. How do you keep track of thousands of refill stations?
G: We try to engage very much with communities, and get involved with a local level. For the U.K. we now have five regional coordinators, who enable and empower communities to start their Refill Group. Sometimes these local groups extend to other plastic free initiatives. Facebook groups and twitter handles are also powerful tools.
The Refill team – Gus is the fifth from the left (Image: Refill)
H: Can you share some of your future plans?
G: Our plan is to expand it next year to Europe. The Netherlands are a high priority for us and further afield we are looking to Australia and New Zealand. In Germany this is already happening, with Refill Deutschland and we’d like to help as much as possible. We hope to enroll more European countries. Furthermore we continuously try to improve our app and documents, like the “How to Guide”.
H: Excellent! We from Refill Ambassadors will try to help out as much as we can to facilitate this process and to stimulate the #Refillution.
G: That would be great!
START REFILLING!
This conversation with Gus made my day. I will keep you up to date about the team’s adventures over the next months. But for now, let’s switch perspectives. What about YOU? Do you live in Europe or are you travelling around here? Then I recommend you to download the Refill app (available for iOS and Android). Like Gus explained, it saves you money, helps you to stay hydrated and last but not least to reduce single-use plastics.
FURTHER READS
Refill is part of City to Sea, a Community Interest Company campaigning to prevent plastic pollution at the source. Learn more about City to Sea.
Meet the people behind refilling projects! Read the Best Practices on Frank Water and RefillMyBottle.
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