Thirsty visitors to Stroud can now enjoy a free top up of water – while helping to reduce plastic pollution.

The Refill movement came to Stroud after it was launched by Stroud Valleys Action on Plastic earlier this summer - the hope is to get businesses to make it easier for people to reuse and refill their bottle with free water.

To do this, businesses have been encouraged to display a Refill sticker in their windows.

Claudi Williams from Stroud who writes a popular blog on living without plastic discussed the benefits of the movement.

“The Refill scheme is just brilliant - you can save money, stay hydrated and prevent plastic pollution at the same time,” Claudi explained.

“Just use the free Refill App or look for the blue Refill Stroud sticker in shop windows when you need a water refill.”

In fact, one million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute, but the average UK household only recycles 44 per cent of their bottles.

This means that nearly 16 million of the plastic bottles used in the UK per day are not being put out for recycling, according to Refill.org - this only makes it more important to cut down on plastics.

However, Stroud seems to be taking a stand, as more than 30 businesses and organisations have already signed up to Refill Stroud.

To find out more about this new movement visit refill.org.uk