Simple Ways You Can Reduce Waste This Refill Day 2024
By Beth Healy
To celebrate World Refill Day on Sunday 16th June, we're welcoming Beth Healy from environmental charity City to Sea to the Canopey blog to talk about how we can all create a more circular lifestyle and reduce plastic waste! Read more below and see how you can refill and reuse with Canopey...
City to Sea is an environmental charity on a mission to prevent plastic pollution at source. We’re leading the transition from single-use to reuse, delivering campaigns and solutions with long-term impact.
We’re also the people behind the award-winning Refill campaign, which helps people live with less plastic via the free Refill app which connects people to places they can eat, drink and shop with less waste, making refilling on-the-go simple!
We're whale-ly excited to be partnering with Canopey via 1% For the Planet on The Year Ahead campaign which encourages everyone to make a sustainable swap and track the positive impact they’re having on the environment.
We’re firm believers that from small ripples, mighty waves flow. However, we also need transformation from the top to scale change across the whole system and make refill and reuse more accessible for all.
What's Happening On World Refill Day
That’s why this World Refill Day (Sunday 16th June), we're calling for international legislative change, empowering communities to amplify the call with their government representatives wherever they live and working with like-minded businesses like Canopey to amplify the need for sustainable solutions! World Refill Day is a global day of action for refill and reuse.
Our consumer research found that 85% of Brits think the government should make it a priority to make reusable and refillable options accessible and affordable for everyone. That’s why this World Refill Day, we’re stepping up the pace of the #RefillRevolution by calling on those who have the influence to make positive legislative change.
The Change We Want To See
Here in the UK, we’re lobbying the incoming government with our Reuse Manifesto, asking them to set legally-binding and time-bound targets for increasing the amount of reusable packaging on the market. We want to empower citizens across the world to do the same.
Currently, only 1.2% of packaging is reusable.
We’re calling for legally binding UK targets of 5% by 2026 and 30% by 2030.
Whilst it seems ambitious, it’s what we need to ensure our green and blue spaces thrive; it isn’t just us that feel this is necessary to drive change at scale. Our research found that 93% of consumers would like to have more refill options. With demand growing, it’s crucial that shoppers have a range of sustainable options available and, by partnering with businesses like Canopey which verifies and vets the sustainability credentials of all the products they stock, we can help more people to make planet-friendly choices.
Why Choose To Reuse And Refill?
It’s never been more important to embrace systems of refill and reuse and make the switch to refillable and reusable products that have a longer life cycle and eliminate the unnecessary waste and pollution created by their single-use counterparts. Not only do circular products prevent plastic pollution impacting our planet but they also reduce the costs associated with managing waste.
Simply put, the higher the number of repeat uses of a product, the lower the environmental impact. Crucially, reuse solutions prevent waste upstream, which is why this World Refill Day, we think it’s so important to lobby governments around the world to implement legislative change that prioritises our planet.
We know a simple swap to a reusable product can make a big difference to the planet. Since the launch of the Refill campaign in 2015, we’ve saved an estimated 60 million plastic bottles from circulation. That’s a huge amount of plastic prevented by collective, positive behaviour change from single-use to reuse.
Brands such as Ocean Bottle help this impact go even further – not only does their product help power the #RefillRevolution as City to Sea’s official reusable bottle partner, but every Ocean Bottle purchased funds the collection of 1000 single use plastic bottles. Furthermore, with Canopey’s Impact Calculator, it’s easy to see the massive carbon saving of the product you buy!
The range of refillable products on offer at Canopey makes it easy to shop more sustainably. Whether it’s refilling your washing-up liquid, using your reusable coffee cup or trying a planet-friendly period product, Canopey has got you covered.
Learn more about their full range of Reuse & Refill accredited products here and start discovering new ways to reduce waste. But here are a few:
Aside from the environmental benefits, opting for refillable and reusable, circular products can even save you money in the long run! Our research shows that the Refill campaign has helped the public save an estimated £35 million based on active app users refilling their water bottle once a week instead of buying water in a single-use bottle!
And Canopey has done the research to highlight how much you save over your sustainable product’s lifetime vs buying the single-use alternative – in fact you can get their Save Money, Save The Planet guide when you sign up to their newsletter. Save the planet and your pennies – what's not to love?
Get 15% Off Refillable & Reusable Products on Canopey
If you’re inspired to try out a refillable product, please use the code REFILL15 for 15% off your next Canopey order to celebrate #WorldRefillDay! The code will be active for a week, from 16th-23rd June, so use it whilst you can!
Head over to the World Refill Day website for more information about how you can get involved, and be sure to follow City to Sea’s channels for more information on how you can take action and join millions of people around the world stepping up for reuse.