Marlow Town Council have revealed a new initiative to decrease the amount of plastic waste in the town.

Refill Marlow is a tap water scheme which will allow the people of Marlow to refill their plastic bottles in restaurants, cafes, banks, bars, museums and other businesses for free.

This is part of Marlow Town Council’s #SustainableMarlow project, which is to try and make Marlow the nicest town in the Thames Valley.

Companies need to sign up to be part of the initiative.

Jocelyn Towns, leader of Marlow Town Council and chair of the council’s environmental advisory group said: “Following the recent launch of #SustainableMarlow, Marlow Town Council’s new environmental vision, we are delighted to announce Refill Marlow as our next project.

“We know lots of businesses already offer this simple service, but find customers often feel embarrassed or cheeky for asking.

“By letting people know they can look for Refill stickers or posters and be confident they can refill for free where they find one, Refill Marlow is encouraging more people to take one small step away from relying on single use plastic bottles.

“It’s a simple concept with a really big potential result.”

According to the www.plastic-pollution.org, approximately eight million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans.

The plastic ranges from bags, cartons and bottles which have been proven to harm the environment and sea life.

And following numerous videos, photos and documentaries which have shown sea creatures such as seals, fish, eels and whales amongst other animals either get severely injured or killed by wasted plastic, there has been a huge push by the public, celebrities and politicians to do more to fight the crises.

Phil Irving, a Marlow-based environmental professional who is launching Refill Marlow said: “Here in Marlow, we’re rightly proud of the area’s stunning countryside, parks and rivers.

“Plastics, including single-use plastic bottles, are now the most frequently found type of litter on UK beaches and you don’t have to look far to find them littering our towns and green spaces too.”

“Refill Marlow gives us all the opportunity to help make this type of litter a thing of the past, at the same time as saving money.

“It’s good business sense as well, as customers view businesses that provide free water refills more favourably and are more likely to return to them to make future purchases.”

Refill Marlow builds on the success of Refill around the UK, which now has a network of more than 20,000 Refill Stations.

Visit www.refill.org.uk for more information.