Free drinking water on Koh Tao or any location in Asia is a dream of many backpackers and tourists. Many of us are so used to having free drinking water in our own countries and it saves money on our travels. In many travel destinations, free drinking water that is clean is not always readily available, forcing tourists to buy plastic bottled water, including Koh Tao.
Having free drinking water refill stations drastically reduces the use of plastic bottles, something that has become a serious worldwide problem. Something that needs to change. Free drinking water refill stations are the solution and something that has finally come to our Tropical Paradise Island of Koh Tao!
For the last 10 to 15 years multiple individuals on Koh Tao had the idea of having free drinking water refill stations, but for whatever reason it never really happened. There are some very Eco friendly dive centers on Koh Tao that offer free water refills, but they only offered it in their dive center for the people that are customers there, making it very localized. This had to change and we needed free drinking water filling stations at as many dive centers and local businesses to ensure easy access to the water and to reduce the plastic bottle use on Koh Tao.
Around 1.5 years ago Chris Haslem and Peter Galea from Roctopus Dive and Marcel van den Berg from Sairee Cottage Diving started a new Eco movement called: Get Involved.
Get Involved had the mission to have Dive Centers and Businesses join hands once per month and come together for Eco Conservation lectures, presentations and Reef and Beach Clean-ups. Get Involved consist of Roctopus Dive, Sairee Cottage Diving, Mojo Divers, Good Time Adventures, Scuba Junction, and Xtreme Gap Year.
Very quickly they realized that cleaning the reefs and beaches are not the solution. It helps a lot, but the next day the garbage and, in particular, the plastic returns. So Get Involved decided to actively try to reduce the plastic waste at the source and started campaigning against the use of plastic straws, bags and bottles on Koh Tao, which lead to the idea of introducing a reusable eco-friendly water bottle and free drinking water refill stations on Koh Tao.
For this to work we needed more companies involved so people could get a bottle at one dive shop and then refill it at another. It all was a great idea and many other dive shops and businesses where interested but if it really was to be a success we needed people to be able to fill the bottle at more locations in Asia or the world.
The solution was Felix Keene from Sairee Cottage Diving. For as long as he was on Koh Tao he had the same idea and he was well related with “Trash Hero” who are one of the most successful eco conservation organizations of the moment, Trash Hero has already launched the reusable bottle and free drinking water stations at many locations in Thailand, such as Koh Lipe, Koh Lanta and other places. Felix brought Trash Hero and Get Involved together and now we finally have a reusable bottle and free drinking water refill station project on Koh Tao, working together with 14 businesses on the Island. Because of this the Koh Tao Eco Bottle is unique and shows how much, so many Dive Centers and Businesses care about our environment and the future of Koh Tao and other beautiful locations in Asia.
How does it work?
You can buy a bottle in any dive shop or local business that is connected to the project for 200 THB a bottle and then you can refill that bottle for free at any of these dive centers and businesses on Koh Tao and any location in the world where you have Trash Hero refill stations.
Result
Tourists save money on buying water, working together with other companies, massively reducing plastic bottle use on Koh Tao and the rest of Asia.
A dream finally coming through!
Come and get your bottle now at these locations on Koh Tao:
Sairee Cottage Diving, Roctopus Dive, Mojo Divers, Good Time Adventures, Scuba Junction, The Earth House, Master Divers, Apnea Diving, Sunshine Divers, Bans Diving Resort, Koh Tao Central Hostel, Island Travel, Coconut Monkey and Sleep Inn Hostel.
There will be more businesses in the future! We will keep you updated!
Please “SHARE” and “LIKE” this blog so more people can enjoy free drinking water on Koh Tao and please leave a comment below if you want to contact us and Get Involved.
Leave a Reply