We're making it even easier for visitors to ditch single use plastics, with the installation of a new water bottle refill point close to our main entrance.
The new refill point – which complements free refills on offer in the Horniman Café – is one of more than 20 across London provided by #OneLess and the Mayor of London, as part of the London Drinking Fountain Fund. The hope is that the new fountains will encourage visitors to refill sustainably rather than buy bottled water and help reduce the amount of plastics polluting our waterways.
We’re constantly looking for ways to make a visit to the Horniman ‘greener’, so we’re delighted to have been chosen as one of the sites for the new refill points. We’ve been making good progress in reducing single-use plastics on site – from swapping to plant-based takeaway packaging in our Café, to introducing a plastic bag charge in our gift shop while we source an alternative. Although we still stock bottled water while we’re looking at greener options, this new refill point is an important and positive step, encouraging our visitors to use more refillable water bottles, and help the Horniman protect our environment.
The London Drinking Fountain Fund has been established by the Mayor of London and #OneLess, a campaign led by the Zoological Society of London, to reduce single-use plastic water bottles in the capital and tackle ocean plastic pollution.
This new public fountain will make it easier for Londoners to keep hydrated on the go without using single-use plastic water bottles, which could end up in the River Thames or our ocean. We are delighted to be working with the Horniman Museum and Gardens on this exciting initiative to reduce the plastic blight on the ocean and firmly establish London as a city that no longer uses plastic bottled water.