Joanna Lumley and Gethin Jones are back this summer to urge Brits to ditch single-use plastic bottles...

Last summer, to help tackle the plastic pollution problem, we began working with passionate environmental champions, Joanna Lumley and Gethin Jones, to convince the British public to ditch bottled water and opt for filtered tap water instead!  

In 2019, our champions certainly had their work cut out for them. Despite a growing global urgency to wage a war on plastic waste, our 2019 research revealed that British attitudes towards the taste of tap water may be a considerable factor contributing to the shocking levels of bottled water consumption in the UK – 7.7 billion bottles sold each year, to be exact*. Further to this, we found that a lack of SUP alternatives, a dependence on convenience shopping and insufficient concern for the environment were amongst the top reasons for Brits not wanting to make eco-friendlier choices.  

Joanna and Gethin have since been working hard over the past year to show Brits that great tasting water needn’t damage the environment when fabulous filtered water is available, straight from your kitchen tap.

This exciting journey has caused a fabulous media splash! We've seen Joanna and Gethin takeover our screens and our news pages with their Just Tap message – take a look at a highlight from the campaign below!

Now one year on in 2020 and Joanna and Gethin are back again this summer to encourage us Brits to keep plastic in the past and ‘just tap it’ for fresh filtered water.

This time around however, it appears that the pair have far less work to do to convince our nation to #SwapforGood. Our new research indicates that there has been a cultural shift that has changed the way Brits feel about the environment, and as a result, 69% of Britons are now willing to change their behaviour to manage a global crisis such as environmental threat – great news for our planet!

What’s more, findings from our new YouGov survey suggest that while spending more time at home over the past few months, the British public have become more conscious of the amount of waste they produce and are actively trying to ditch unsustainable habits - including buying bottled water!

Before lockdown, 42% of people purchased bottled water for consumption at home despite having easy access to tap or filtered water; that fell to 32% during lockdown. Joanna and Gethin would be proud to know that the majority (59%) of people who made this change did so in an effort to reduce their at-home plastic consumption!

We’re delighted to see the nation take steps to be more environmentally responsible, and with Joanna and Gethin’s help, we’re excited to continue the Just Tap journey and celebrate the joys of filtered water - stay tuned for more Just Tap fun... coming soon!

*refill.org.uk/2019-the-year-of-the-refill-revolution