New water fountain installed in Winchester in drive to reduce single-use plastic
A new water fountain has been installed in the heart of Winchester to help reduce the use of single-use plastics.
The new fountain inside Abbey Gardens is now in place and ready for the public as the city council aims to reduce the use of disposable plastic bottles and cups.
Cllr Lynda Murphy, Cabinet Member for environment, said:
“I am so pleased that this fountain has opened in Abbey Gardens, the first of many steps Winchester City Council will be taking to help the environment and tackle climate change.
“With more than 1 million plastic bottles being bought in the world every minute, I hope that visitors and residents will now think twice before buying a bottle of water in Winchester and will use our new water fountain instead.”
The council declared a climate change emergency for the district earlier this year, with the target of making itself carbon neutral by 2024 and the district by 2030.
In the UK, more than 38 million plastic bottles are used each day. Just over half make it to recycling, with 16m either put into landfill, burned or ending up in the environment and oceans.