Beamish Working to Reduce Plastic Pollution

August 20th 2018

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North has joined a national Refill campaign to help fight plastic pollution.

The Refill campaign, set up by City to Sea, and brought to the North East by Northumbrian Water, aims to reduce the need for single-use plastic bottles by encouraging businesses to become Refill Stations.

Visitors can fill up their refillable bottles with tap water in areas around Beamish after the museum signed up to the campaign.

Rhiannon Hiles, Deputy Director, said: “Here at Beamish we are really pleased to be part of the Refill campaign. We are committed to reducing plastic waste and actively encourage the use of reusable rather than throw away bottles. The campaign is a great initiative and so easy to participate in, you just need to turn on the tap and fill up with clean, great tasting, fresh Northumbrian Water.

“Around the museum we have various Refill points, and we are encouraging everyone to fill up their reusable bottles. If you can’t see where to do this please just ask!”

Visitors can fill up free of charge in the museum’s Coffee Shop at the Entrance, the Tea Rooms in The 1900s Town, the Sinkers’ Bait Cabin in The 1900s Pit Village and the British Kitchen at The 1940s Farm.

Beamish is proud to be one of over 500 companies in the region to have signed up and has been added to the free Refill app, which shows users where they can refill for free, and offers rewards when they do.

Refill campaign

The campaign was launched in Durham in December 2017. Northumbrian Water, which was named the UK’s top water company at the Water Industry Awards in May this year, is working in partnership with City to Sea to encourage more North East businesses to sign up.

Northumbrian Water’s Group HR Director, Sarah Salter, said: “As an ethical company, we are really passionate about embedding Refill in our communities across the North East. Refill not only encourages people to drink our clean, clear and great tasting water, it will also help reduce the amount of plastic waste that is generated.”

City to Sea launched Refill Bristol in September 2015 and there are now over 10,000 Refill Stations around the UK.

The not for profit organisation won gold for Best Environmental Behaviour Change at the Global Good Awards for the Refill campaign.

To find out more about Refill, or to download the app, visit www.refill.org.uk.

Beamish Museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm (last admission 3pm). A Beamish Unlimited Pass allows visitors to pay once and come back free for a year. For more information, including events, visit www.beamish.org.uk.