On a global scale, plastic has become a scourge on the planet, killing wildlife, clogging up seas and filling up landfill sites for centuries to come. Not to mention their considerable ecological impact, with some frightening figures! For example, the production of a single one-litre plastic bottle requires around 2 litres of water, as well as large quantities of oil and coal. So there’s an urgent need to act!
The ReFill Not Landfill project was launched in Cambodia in 2016, at the foot of Angkor Wat – one of the world’s most famous tourist sites. The aim is to considerably reduce the amount of plastic waste produced in the country, and even to change its entire landscape.
Based on the simple fact that in 2016 more than 4.7 million visitors travelled to Cambodia and that each of them consumed an average of two litres of water per day, most of which came from half-litre or one-litre bottles: that’s nearly 130 million plastic bottles a year! That’s over 10 million bottles a month, or 355,000 a day, week after week, year after year. As the number of tourists grew, the situation could only get worse.
The concept was born: a bottle that could be refilled free of charge wherever there was a partner!
With a refillable aluminium bottle lasting a minimum of 4 years, a single bottle can replace almost 4,300 plastic bottles! All the local partners, hotels, restaurants and local agencies have distributed these bottles to their customers, with a QR code on the back for easy access to a list of all the free water refill points in the city.
The initiative has grown and now covers more than 10 Asian countries, has more than 1,200 partners, and is covered by major media such as the New York Times, the Huffington Post, Forbes, etc…
QUIMBAYA LATIN AMERICA has formed an exclusive partnership with ReFill Not Landfill to extend the project throughout Latin America: *ReFill Not Landfill Latin America*.
Our operation will extend to all the destinations where we operate, with the aim of offering each of our passengers an isothermal metal bottle on arrival by the end of 2024, and developing partnerships throughout the continent.
All QUIMBAYA TOURS offices are currently working on creating and developing a network of drinking water access points, so that all our existing and future tours can be filled with drinking water.
As each country has its own specific characteristics, we want every traveller to have the choice of contributing to the protection of the environment of the country they are visiting, while being assured that the health guarantees are optimal.
With your support, we can offer this simple but effective alternative to all our visitors. You can have your passengers’ bottles personalised so that everyone has a unique, environmentally-friendly souvenir of their trip.
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