Cafes in Healesville have joined Yarra Valley Water’s choose tap refiller initiative, which has tripled in size in the last year.
Participating businesses are displaying “Choose Tap Refiller” stickers on their windows, which lets people know they’re welcome to refill water bottles for free, without having to buy anything.
More than 150 cafes across Melbourne have now signed up for the movement.
Ben Arnold, a Healesville cafe owner said he was proud to sign up because Healesville has won best tasting tap water in Australia.
“Everyone loves water and it’s good water,” he said.
We live next to the reservoir in Healesville, so knowing that we produce the best drinking water in Australia was pretty fantastic.”
Mr Arnold thinks the program is great and the business is happy to do its part for the environment.
“We use keep cups for our coffee so why not use refill bottles for our tap water,” he said.
Despite having some of the highest quality drinking water in the world, Australians spend more than $730 million on bottled water each year.
Pat McCafferty, Yarra Valley Water Managing Director, said the choose tap refiller initiative will help people save money.
“With the cost of living rising, we’re encouraging more businesses to join the movement and sign up for our free refill initiative,” he said.
It is estimated that Australians use approximately 130kg of plastic per person each year.
“The choose tap initiative is a simple way to cut down on plastic waste and the bottles are often used for only a few minutes but remain in waterways and streets for decades,” Mr McCafferty said.
To find your nearest Refiller establishment please visit https://www.yvw.com.au/refiller-ct.
