Just 1 in 3 has a refillable water bottle as blitz on plastic ignored
DAVID Attenborough’s plea to cut throwaway plastic is being largely ignored by Britons with only a third prepared to carry a refillable bottle, research has found.
Sir David revealed on his TV show Blue Planet that eight million tons of plastic is dumped in the sea every year, causing huge environmental damage and harm to wildlife.
Although awareness of the issue has risen after the BBC series, it has failed to shift the British public’s behaviour. A survey of more than 2,000 people showed that despite the Government’s ambition to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042, only one in three has a reusable water bottle, with many blaming the inconvenience of carrying and filling them.
It also found that only a third of people feel guilty about buying a throwaway water bottle.
Also, just one in five who has a reusable container uses it and more than half of people do not feel bad about the impact on the environment of buying bottled water.
Sarah Taylor, managing director of water filtering company BRITA, which commissioned the study along with the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, said: “The damage that single-use plastic is doing to our environment and marine life has been well documented and it is clear many people are committed to tackling this.
“But this research shows that old habits are ingrained and the ‘hassle factor’ often outweighs concern about the environment. There is much more we can all do to help people reduce their single-use plastic footprint.”
The survey also revealed that nearly a third of people aged 25 to 34 do not use refillable bottles because they claim they are too heavy.
A lack of options at transport hubs appears to be encouraging single-use plastic, with 63 per cent prone to relying on bottled water for long distance trips by car and two-fifths likely to buy it at an airport.
Poisoned
Lunchtime meal deals were also blamed for throwaway plastic, with 27 per cent likely to buy bottled water when it is included in offers.
Women are more likely than men to own and use a reusable water bottle, with 40 per cent doing so, compared to 31 per cent of men.
Half of millennials use a reusable bottle, compared with just 27 per cent of over-55s.
Seventy-eight per cent of people think there should be greater availability of free tap water nationwide.
And 73 per cent would view a business more favourably if it provided free tap or filtered water on request.
The research, which is being launched in Parliament today, is part of BRITA’s #SwapForGood campaign which aims to help eradicate use of single-use plastic bottles. Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “There has been encouraging progress to address litter from single-use plastic but this report shows we’re not there yet.
“Too many people still find it challenging to fill up on the go, while many more are still embarrassed to ask for tap water, worried about the safety of water fountains, or just unwilling to carry around a reusable bottle.
“We’ve simply got to get to a situation where topping up in glass or refillable bottles is the norm.”
Mr Attenborough, 91, told viewers on the Blue Planet: “Unless the flow of plastics into the world’s oceans is reduced, marine life will be poisoned for many centuries to come.”
The Government has earmarked a £61million war chest to fight plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.