Water good idea!This eco scheme's gotta lotta bottle!

Andrew Gadsden and Tony Wood with, left, Elsie-May Simmonds and, right, Carla Whiteofrd, apprentice hair stylists

Picture: Sarah Standing (170839-4303) — Andrew Gadsden and Tony Wood with, left, Elsie-May Simmonds and, right, Carla Whiteofrd, apprentice hair stylists Picture: Sarah Standing (170839-4303)

Former naval officer Andrew Gadsden and hair salon owner Tony Wood have established a scheme designed to protect the local environment from irreversible damage.

Mr Gadsden owns Southsea’s tea blender All About Tea, and together he and Mr Wood decided to set up the Your Bottle scheme.

It aims to transform brick-and-mortar businesses into water refill stations for the public, in an attempt to help save the environment and strengthen corporate social responsibility.

Since its establishment, Your Bottle has swept across many of Portsmouth and Southsea’s stores, including Mr Wood’s Tony Wood Hairdressing, Baffled Coffee and Hole in the Wall.

Mr Gadsden stressed the responsibility that locals have in helping protect their environment. He said: ‘Portsmouth is the UK’s only island city.

‘We have this magnificent seafront all along the front of Southsea. So if anyone is leading the way with trying to reduce single water bottle pollution it should be us.”

‘When single-use water bottles are not recycled, they often end up being littered and swept into the sea, contributing to landfill. Animals starve to death because they eat the bottles and it fills up their stomachs so they don’t realise they’re hungry.’

‘While some may think that the scheme could decrease shop revenue, Mr Gadsden believes otherwise.

He said: ‘If they can get people into their store for a free refill and then buy something else, I’m sure they would be happy to do so.

‘It seems like an incredibly simple thing that if we all do will make a huge difference.’

Mr Gadsden found himself amazed at the immense support for the scheme, with over 100 supporters on the Facebook page in the first 2 days of launching.

‘Let’s start with Portsmouth and Southsea first. What we really need now is for shops and cafes to contact us to be a part of it.’

Anyone who feels they can help in some way can contact ‘Your Bottle’ via their facebook page or the contact form on the website, which can be found at http://yourbottle.org