Litter-picking group Rise Up Clean Up Margate will see its campaign come to fruition with the opening of a drinking water fountain at the main sands next weekend.
Rise Up. Clean Up Margate (RUCU) began the campaign for a water fountain in 2022. The aim was to install Thanet’s first public drinking fountain on Margate Main Sands, Thanet’s busiest beach.
During the summer months up to 1,500 people can arrive at Margate railway station every hour. This means that on a hot day the population can grow by up to 25%, but the waste management budget remains the same.
On a busy day, council cleansing teams can remove up to five tons of rubbish from the bins around the beach, and RUCU can remove a further 90 bags of litter from the beach itself.
The group say plastic bottles are a huge component of the litter problem with:
- Every day 21,081,451 single use water bottles are used in the UK.
- Every hour 878,394 single use water bottles are used in the UK.
- Every minute 14,640 single use water bottles are used in the UK.
Thanet is now working towards becoming a Plastic Free Community and removing single use plastic bottles is a central part of this plan.
RUCU envisages that tens of thousands of people will pass the water fountain over a busy weekend. The volunteers feel confident that its presence will encourage people to refill, rather than buying unnecessary plastic bottles.
The installation and maintenance of the fountain will be the responsibility of Thanet District Council.
MIW Water Cooler Experts supplied the fountain and supported RUCU throughout the project. As the Refill reps for Margate, RUCU was supported by Refill and City to Sea’s campaign. City to Sea is an environmental not-for-profit, campaigning to stop plastic pollution at source. Refill is an award-winning campaign to help people live with less waste. The campaign is designed to normalise refill and reuse behaviour by connecting people to places they can eat, drink and shop without packaging.
The fountain will be officially opened on Sunday 7th April, at 4pm, by the Mayor of Margate Rob Yates.
RUCU co-founder Amy Cook said: “This is the result of two long years of campaigning. We entered numerous funding bids for the fountain and were unsuccessful. In the end it was the community of Thanet (and beyond), who came together and donated enough money to purchase the water fountain.
“We hope that this is the first of many water fountains in Thanet. We see it as a massive step towards eliminating the need for plastic water bottles on Margate Main Sands.”
Broadstairs Town Council also aims to install at least one drinking fountain at least one in Viking Bay, Broadstairs, this spring.
Visit riseupceanup.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/riseupcleanupmargate
