More local businesses and community groups have joined the Town Council in recent months and taken the next step towards helping Hailsham become ‘plastic-free’.
The ‘Refill-a-bottle’ Hailsham scheme is on a mission to make refilling water bottles as easy, low cost and convenient as possible, by introducing refill stations in the town centre and other parts of the town.
The Town Council has already been successful in helping to implement a ‘Refill Hailsham’ scheme, which involves the public getting their water container filled in dedicated premises which have signed up to the scheme, encouraging to people to cut down on using plastic items such as drink bottles, chilled water dispensers, cups, cutlery and straws.
More local businesses and community groups have joined the Town Council and taken the next step towards helping Hailsham become ‘plastic-free’, and additional participants in the scheme are always welcome. Refill stations in Hailsham and surrounding villages which people can now use for free include:
People can also use the ‘Refill App’ on their smartphones, which enables them to locate nearby water stations, not just in Hailsham but around the country. The app can be downloaded via GooglePlay and AppStore.
Local campaigner and town councillor Mary Laxton said: “The Refill scheme encourages participating businesses to sign up to the free corresponding app and place a sticker in their window alerting passers-by to the fact they’re welcome to fill up their bottle for free. This is just the start of the Town Council’s campaign to help the local community cut down on single-use plastic and reduce the amount of plastic waste in our town.”
Councillor Laxton added: “By pledging our support for Hailsham becoming a plastic-free town, the Town Council plans to lead by example by removing or replacing single-use plastic on our premises and help to promote the campaign and supporting events.”
“It’s wonderful to see so many local businesses already supporting Refill Hailsham by signing up to provide free refills, and we hope people use these refill stations as much as possible.”
Hailsham Town Council is aiming to become a ‘single-use’ plastic-free council itself and staff at the Council offices in Market Street will gradually be phasing out the use of non-recyclable single-use plastic products at all Council-supported activities and premises.
For more information on the national Refill Scheme visit https://refill.org.uk/.
Terry Hall, Communications Officer
Hailsham Town Council, Market Street, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 2AE
Telephone: 01323 841702 | Email: terry.hall@hailsham-tc.gov.uk