Brackenridge Spa Martinborough, a leading Wairarapa Day Spa is the latest business to show support for the Refill NZ initiative founded by Jill Ford and Owain John in Wellington this year, where customers are encouraged to bring their own bottles and refill with tap water, completely free.
“We wholeheartedly support the idea of providing free access to drinking water for our customers and encouraging people to use a refillable drink bottle to cut down on plastic waste and keep New Zealand beautiful.” said Mrs Sharon Garrett, Acting General Manager, Brackenridge Country Retreat & Spa.
“Like many businesses we consider ourselves to be environmentally aware and have an environmental and sustainability policy, but in truth the hard part is finding initiatives that are cost effective for small business, offer easy implementation and are simple for team members and guests to buy-in to.”
“Our Brackenridge team, loves the simplicity of the RefillNZ initiative and it dovetails in nicely with a growing trend for people to express their individuality by using their own refillable coffee cups and water bottles.” she added.
Does the initiative reduce sale of bottled water? Sharon says that in her experience there is a lesser reliance on bottled water here compared to what she has observed in other overseas destinations. However, the impact in terms of litter remains to be a big problem globally with one million plastic bottles used worldwide every minute* and closer to home, each New Zealander is estimated to use 168 plastic bottles a year. According to RefillNZ just one third of those are recycled.
“We find that most guests are very satisfied with tap water to the extent that we don’t retail bottled still or sparkling water, it just isn’t demanded at the Day Spa. At Brackenridge Country Retreat and Spa we have our own water supply which undergoes filtering and UV treatment to keep it safe for our guests and is regularly tested. We are not reliant on town water,” adds Sharon.
Guests are offered an array of beverages from a complimentary self-service refreshment zone including Green Tea infused with lime and water with an extensive beverage list including local wines available for purchase.
RefillNZ has signed up more than 80 Wellington businesses, mainly cafes, who have all said yes to offering free water bottle refills – and many more are following suit around the country. Businesses who have adopted the practice are proudly displaying the RefillNZ sticker in their shop window, making it easy for customers to identify those involved.
“It’s wonderful to have forward-thinking businesses like Brackenridge Country Retreat and Spa joining this initiative – every participant makes a big difference!” says Owain John from RefillNZ.
