Public drinking fountains can reduce single-use plastic bottles’ use

Photo: Drinking fountains “cut down on primary resources to reduce plastics”

It is hoped the re-introduction of drinking fountains will help to wean people off bottled water. There are calls for towns and cities across the UK to install water fountains, in a bid to crack down on the millions of plastic bottles making their way into our rivers and oceans every year.

London’s first public drinking fountain was built into the railings of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Church in 1859 by the Quaker Samuel Gurney. Thousands of people turned out in Holborn to see it being unveiled. Historian Emma Jones told Sky News: "Samuel Gurney was a philanthropist and he was really interested in temperance. He really wanted to keep people away from the public house. So providing free water was obviously one of the ways they thought they could achieve that."

Whilst in the nineteenth century, drinking fountains were introduced to wean people off alcohol, nowadays, it’s hoped they could help to wean people off bottled water instead. Since it was introduced in the 1980s water fountains have undoubtedly declined in popularity, as people are increasingly buying single-use plastic bottles. Ms Jones said: "We’ve had a real growth […]

Full article: Drinking fountains ‘cut down on primary resources to reduce plastics’

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Public drinking fountains can reduce single-use plastic bottles’ use