Isle of Anglesey gets its first water refilling stations

WHEN on a winter walk along the Anglesey coast in North Wales, you can stay hydrated, save money and prevent plastic pollution.

As part of the island’s drive to become plastic-free, walkers can now refill water bottles, free of charge, at two coastal locations.

Newborough Nature Reserve and Forest and Holyhead Breakwater Country Park are the first outdoor beauty spots on Anglesey where you can fill up water bottles.

And the water for the refill taps travels just a few miles – from Llyn Alaw reservoir.

The sites have been added to the Refill App ‘put your tap on the map’, which shows more than 20,000 businesses in Britain where people can refill water bottles.

Some facts:

• Bottled water is expensive – more than two thousand times more expensive than tap water.
• Refillable bottles may cost more than bottled water initially, but you can top them up again and again for free.
• Thirty-five million plastic bottles are sold every day in the UK – only half get recycled.

Molly Lovatt, Natural Resources Wales’ Senior Recreation Officer said: “With one plastic bottle taking 450 years to decompose, making small changes locally means we can all contribute to the global effort to reduce plastic pollution and cut down on waste.”

This initiative is just one project carried out in partnership between Natural Resources Wales and Anglesey County Council to improve Anglesey’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Anglesey County Council’s Countryside and AONB Officer, Alun M Owen, added: “As well as our successful partnership with Natural Resources Wales, further funding has been secured via Welsh Government to extend the project within communities linked to the coastal path.

“Meetings are underway with Town and Community Councils to install water dispensers at strategic locations combined with information boards to highlight the benefits of drinking local tap water and encourage the use of refillable bottles.

“All new sites will be added to the Refill App ‘put your tap on the map’.”

You will find the water dispensers outside the North Wales Wildlife Trust’s café and outside the toilet block at Breakwater Country Park and not far from the toilet block at Newborough.