A new Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge initiative has been launched to try and reduce the use of single-use plastics locally.
The Town Council’s Burnham and Highbridge Plastic Free Group has begun the ‘Refill Burnham and Highbridge’ scheme.
It hopes to sign up local businesses such as cafes, restaurants, pubs and shops to become ‘Refill Stations’ and thereby encourage shoppers away from products wrapped in single-use plastic and towards using reusable containers instead.
Burnham and Highbridge residents can now download the free Refill app and tap into a network of locations to reduce, reuse and refill in our area. It’s run by the national Refill campaign.
Mayor Cllr Lesley Millard from the Burnham and Highbridge Plastic Free Group that is launching the scheme says: “Here in Burnham and Highbridge we’re rightly proud of the area’s stunning beaches.”
”Plastics, including single-use plastic bottles, coffee cups and food packaging are now the most frequently found type of litter on UK beaches and you don’t have to look far to find them littering our towns and green spaces too.”
Local resident Shelley Bamsey adds: “Refill Burnham and Highbridge gives us all the opportunity to help make this type of litter a thing of the past at the same time as saving money. It’s good business sense as well, as customers view businesses that provide free water refills more favourably and are more likely to return to them to make future purchases.”
Gavin Holman from Brit Chips in Burnham is one of the local businesses in Burnham and Highbridge signed up as a Refill Station on the app and says: “As a Plastic Free Champion from 2019, I want to continue to work to prevent single use plastic in our towns.”
Refill Burnham and Highbridge is building on the global Refill movement, which now has a network of over 280,000 Refill Stations across the world.
Bristol charity City to Sea created the Refill app in 2015 which directs people to places they can eat, drink and shop with less plastic.
For any local businesses wanting to get involved, contact Cllr Lesley Millard by email on cllr.lesley.millard@burnham-highbridge-tc.gov.uk or contact the Council Office on 01278 788088. You can also add a business on the app yourself for free.
