Last week, we talked about how attendees and athletes at the London Olympics had the option to bring and fill reusable bottles rather than buying soda or bottled water. On its face, this is a big win for sustainability, but how helpful are bottled water refill stations if you can’t find them?
After a couple of readers commented on the original piece saying that they brought their own bottles and couldn’t find any refill stations, I’m wondering how many stations there are and where they’re located, so I tried to find info on the official London 2012 website.
The Visitor Information pages for Greenwich Park, Eton Dorney, and Olympic Park don’t mention the refill stations or where you can access drinkable tap water. I also checked the maps for those locations and don’t see water refill stations listed. Of course, you can always refill your bottle at a bathroom sink, but that’s not the same as an official spot to refill bottles.
I’d love to hear from you guys in the comments! Did you attend the London Olympics? If you found one of these elusive refill stations, let us know where it was! If not, I’m interested in how many folks tried to do the sustainable thing and couldn’t.
Image Credit: Bottled Water photo via Shutterstock
Why does one need a “refill station”? What’s wrong with the bathroom?
Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately I think for a lot of folks there’s an ick factor associated with bathroom sinks.
We have been to the London parks (e.g. Victoria Park) where they have massive screens and other entertainments for folks to get together and watch.
There were numerous water stations which we used regularly – so the water was plentiful, cool and tasted fine.
The bathrooms at these sites consist of rows of portaloos – that is the type of ‘bathroom’ Johnny Knoxville would tip upside down with someone locked inside (and not the type you would wish to drink water from!)
We are going to the actual Olympics on Sunday and will be taking refillable bottles to avoid paying £2.50 for a small plastic bottle of water or cola (and hoping for better bathrooms!)
That’s good to hear! Do you remember where the refill stations are?
Hi Becky – yes they were next to every toilet area – not very clearly signposted but, if you were looking, they were quite obvious. So, sustainable yes, but perhaps with a bias towards vendor profits…
But, hey, the whole thing was free and only food/drink were (over)charged for.
That’s great to know! I’ll add this to the original post about the stations.