As part of the new #OneLess campaign, the Mayor has announced the construction of a water fountain in Carnaby Street with 3 more to come this following summer. 

Mr. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has begun his contribution to the #OneLess campaign by installing a new water fountain in Carnaby Street, one of London’s busiest shopping streets.

In addition to this, the Mayor has also announced that 3 more water fountains will be built following the summer with two built in Liverpool Street Station and one in Flat Iron Square in Bankside.

This is part of a campaign by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) to lower the amount of single use plastic bottles in London, in a press release Sadiq said “to get a grip on needless plastic waste we need to provide simple ways of refilling and accessing free water, and water fountains are the much-needed solution.”

The Mayor has furthermore created a pot to secure sites for another 16 water fountains through land and site owners bidding for funds from the pot, the pot contains up to £75,000 of which the Mayor contributed £50,000 and water fountain specialists MIW donating £25,000.

The bid will be assessed by the ZSL and they will consider applications for the bid from busy shopping streets; business districts, public attractions and anywhere with a high amount of public footfall. While assessing bids they will take into account accessibility, visibility and access to water.

The plastic bottle waste problem in London is very severe; the average adult in London buys 175 bottles a year, resulting in significant waste and damage to the ocean habitats of the world. On one day alone last year 2,500 plastic bottles were collected from the banks of the Thames.

Plastic waste is a threat to life underwater as animals mistake it for food which causes starvation or suffocation, or they can get entangled, not to mention that plastic can remain in the Ocean for hundreds or thousands of years.