Call to bring back water fountains in every town to cut down growing tide of plastic bottles.
Environmental campaigners are urging towns and cities across the UK to install more water fountains in a bid to curb the growing use of plastic bottles.
Currently, almost 36 million plastic bottles are bought in the UK each day, but less than half of them are recycled and they can take hundreds of years to break down once they reach the sea.
It is hoped that by installing more drinking fountains, people will be encouraged to reuse their water bottles and create less waste.
It is now encouraging other local businesses to follow its lead.
Several bars and cafes in the city are also allowing people to fill up their water bottles for free and a local Refill app can direct thirsty visitors to participating businesses.
But a loophole in legislation means that businesses are within their rights to charge someone for use of a glass.
A recent YouGov survey revealed that seven out of 10 people (70 percent) believe tap water should be more freely available, so that people don’t feel pressured into buying bottled water.
The call to curb plastic bottle use comes as alarming figures published by The Guardian show that one million plastic bottles are sold around the world every minute, with the number expecting to rise by 20 per cent by 2021.
Experts said the increased demand is largely being driven by the popularity of bottled water in China and the Asia Pacific region.