REFILL MERTON
Life with less plastic, made easy.
Brought to you by Sustainable Merton as part of the national award-winning Refill scheme by City to Sea, Refill Merton connects you to places to eat and drink and shop with less waste.
Merton residents can use the Google Map below to find local Refill Stations and/or can download the free Refill app to tap into a global network of places to reduce, reuse and refill.
From a coffee on your commute to drinking water on the go, or even shopping with less plastic, Refill puts the power to go packaging-free at your fingertips.
The Refill Merton Map
📍 Find your local Refill Station
Join the Refill Revolution
The Refill App empowers people to #ChooseToReuse by connecting them with businesses where refilling is welcomed. If just 1 in 10 Brits Refilled their reusable water bottle just once a week, we’d save around 340 million plastic bottles a year!
By choosing to reuse and saying no to single-use plastic, you are helping to protect our rivers and oceans, combating climate change, and saving money all at the same time!
The problem with plastic
Over 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels 😢
Every year around the world we create more than 300 million tonnes of plastic – half of this is single-use.
In the UK alone, our 'lunch on the go' habit generates 11 billion items of packaging waste a year and 2.5 billion coffee cups are used and thrown away – enough to stretch around the world roughly five and a half times!
When it comes to water, research shows that despite more people than ever carrying reusable water bottles, over 71% of us feel uncomfortable asking for a refill if we’re not buying something at the same time.
Refill started life as a campaign to connect people to free drinking water, as a way of tackling the problem of single-use plastic bottles, but the plastic problem is much, much bigger. So, in October 2020, the campaign expanded beyond drinking water and Refill is now the world’s first app to help people find locations to reuse and refill.
Become a Refill Station
Does your business offer refills of water, coffee, groceries or lunch?
Get listed on the Refill Merton Map and Refill App to increase footfall, and help your customers reduce pointless packaging.
Once your Refill Station is live, you’ll be ready to welcome refillers and benefit from increased exposure and footfall as a result.
RETURN TO REFILL
Get the latest guidance and support for your businesses to safely accept reusables.
REDUCE.
Coffee Cups
2.5 billion coffee cups are used and thrown away each year in the UK- but as they are lined with plastic, less than 1 in 400 are recycled.
Replace yours with a reusable cup - they come in all shapes and sizes to suit your espresso or skinny latte!
Plastic Bottles
In the UK, we use a staggering 38.5 million single-use plastic bottles and a further 58 million cans every day!
Remember to pack your refillable bottle and top up on the go.
Download the Refill app to locate refill stations nearby.
REUSE.
Shopping Bags
More than one million plastic bags are used every minute – and will have an average ‘working life’ of just 15 minutes.
Buy a reusable bag (there are some stylish ones out there) and save yourself 5p at the supermarket,
Condiment Containers
Refuse single-use sachets and ask your favourite local restaurant or
takeaway to replace them with refillable and reusable containers.
"Tip: I've found you have to say quite quickly that you don't want any cutlery or condiments, otherwise they automatically put them into your bag!"
Sophie, Community Champion
REFUSE.
Straws
Millions of straws are used around the world everyday! Sadly, many of these end up in the stomachs of our ocean life.
Say no to the straw! Or choose alternatives such as paper straws.
Cutlery
Avoid plastic cutlery by carrying your own set, or spork, with you, A simple way to reduce single-use plastic when eating on-the-go.
Plastic Packaging
Pass on plastic produce bags and buy loose. Or even better - grow your own at home!
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MORDEN library of things
Sustainable Merton has partnered with social enterprise Library of Things and Merton Council to bring you Morden Library of Things - the first of its kind in Merton! You can now pop into Morden Library to borrow useful household items like drills, carpet cleaners and gazebos from just £1 per day.