This World Refill Day, NI Water’ education team visited women involved in the Climate Conscious Communities Project to lead practical action on plastic waste through the ‘Refillution’ campaign.

With this year’s call to “choose to reuse” and accelerate a “reuse revolution”, the global campaign focuses on reducing single-use packaging and embedding refill habits into everyday life.

Locally, through the Climate Conscious Communities Project at Footprints Women’s Centre, Poleglass, and Windsor Women’s Centre’s gardening group in The Village, south Belfast, NI Water’s Refillution initiative is helping to tackle plastic pollution and promote sustainable choices across Northern Ireland.

The region uses around 420 million single-use plastic bottles each year. By signing up to the Refillution, participants commit to replacing single-use plastic with refillable alternatives and choosing tap water instead.

Reducing reliance on disposable bottles cuts plastic waste entering rivers and seas, while bottled water is around 900 times more carbon intensive than tap water.

Since its launch in 2019, the campaign has distributed 60,000 reusable bottles to community groups, schools, arts organisations and sports clubs.

NI Water Education Officer Anna Killen said: “World Refill Day is about practical actions that reduce waste and deliver real environmental benefits. By refilling a reusable bottle with tap water, groups across Northern Ireland – especially female leaders – are helping to set a clear standard in choosing simple, effective solutions that reduce plastic and lower carbon impact.”