Bondi Beach bubbler trial a success

BY JEREMY BROWN
Waverley Council’s move to curb the number of plastic drink containers littering local streets, parks and beaches by installing a large water station and new recycling bins at the Bondi Beach Promenade has been a hit.

Mayor Sally Betts said the water bubblers were proving very popular.
‘Hundreds of people are taking advantage of the new water station at Bondi Beach. Most people will refill their water bottles or drink containers, particularly at the beach, if they can easily get fresh, cold water,’ she said.

Under this initiative, the council gives out free reusable and foldable plastic water bottles, has provided new beach recycle bins, and the lifeguards make periodic announcements to remind people to take their rubbish home with them.

When the trial was announced last November at the Ocean Care Day festival, the mayor pointed out that about 1.5 billion drink containers still go to landfill every year and many end up in our waterways and littering our streets.

In its November minutes the council notes: ‘Strategically located bubblers will benefit walkers and shoppers, and reduce dependence on buying bottled water which has significant environmental impacts resulting from groundwater extraction, bottling and transport.

Further damage results from plastic bottles finding their way into the ocean. Plastic bottle collection and recycling, including from the stormwater traps, is a significant cost to Council.’
 

Demand for bottled water is growing by 10 per cent annually, and latest research by Clean Up Australia shows that less than 35 per cent of all plastic bottles are recycled. This puts thousands of tonnes of non-biodegradable plastic into landfill sites every year.
 

Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan has described the bottled water industry as a “con”. He called on all levels of government to discourage people buying water in bottles. He said a large amount of bottled water was imported from Fiji and other Pacific Islands and that the energy intensive manufacturing processes combined with rapid depletion of underground aquifers is causing growing environmental problems in these countries.