Signing up Stations in Cardiff

On the 2nd of March 2023 I, along with three other students, attended a volunteer day with City to Sea with the aim of signing local businesses up to the award-winning Refill app, with the aim of making it easier for people to choose refill and reuse in Cardiff City Centre. I usually struggle with my 9am starts at University, but this day started with a meeting time of 7am at Bristol Temple Meads where we travelled to Monmouthshire Building Society. Upon arrival we met with members of staff from both FOR Cardiff and Monmouthshire Building Society where we split into teams so that we could tackle the entirety of the city centre and make it into a competition of which team could sign up the most businesses to the Refill app!

If you’re from Cardiff, I’m sure you’ve heard of the famous Delboy. Well, I had the pleasure of meeting him and our team’s name was actually called the ‘Delboy Fanclub’ which won us some extra points! Thank you Delboy!

After a short opening brief, we were sent on our way. My team began by approaching small cafés and independent food stores that might not have heard of the Refill campaign before and educating them on the benefits of the scheme for them and for the planet. If those business owners were interested in signing up to the scheme with us, we took their details and gave them their very own Refill sticker to put in the window of their business so passing customers could see that they are able to refill their bottles in-store.

I found it particularly refreshing to see how many people and organisations were motivated to help make a difference and reduce their single-use plastic consumption. I’d like to particularly shoutout Waterloo Tea who have been supporting the Refill campaign for a few years now and provide free refills across all their sites in Cardiff and Penarth. A representative from Waterloo Tea encourages “every business to get on board with the campaign. It’s so simple but very meaningful and can make an immediate impact.”