Selfridges has announced it will stop selling single-use plastic water bottles as part of a campaign to reduce pollution in the oceans.
As part of the initiative, the store has also opened a drinking fountain in its food hall in London to encourage customers to bring their own water bottles to fill up instead of buying them.
The store's Project Ocean campaign is based on estimates there will be 1kg of plastic for every 3kg of fish in our oceans within the next decade. The removal of single-use plastic water bottles in the London Birmingham and Manchester stores will amount to around 400,000 bottles annually.
Selfridges will introduce alternative solutions to plastic bottles, including tetrapak and glass, as well as reusable water vessels. The store has also committed to reducing plastic packaging within its food halls and restaurants, as well as upholding its commitment not to sell or serve endangered fish.
The new water fountain
Alannah Weston, deputy chairman of the Selfridges Group, said: "The [campaign[ is one which is very close to my heart and our business. With our latest initiative we aim to drive awareness of the serious threat plastic poses to our oceans; in particular single-use plastic water bottles.
"We will be encouraging people to think twice about their use of plastic water bottles, which ultimately end up as waste destroying our precious oceans."
Professor Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation programmes at the Zoological Society of London, which partnered with Selfridges for the campaign, added: "The staggering volume of plastic entering our ocean every year is having a devastating effect on our marine wildlife - from tiny corals to great whales.
"No matter where plastic litter originates, once it reaches the ocean it becomes a planetary problem as it is carried by ocean currents.
"The good news is that marine litter is a problem that can be solved, as most plastic entering the ocean comes from single use items like water bottles."
