In 2011 The Trust funded the provision of a water fountain for refilling of water bottles as a means of promoting recycling of plastic bottles. On average each New Zealander uses more than 100 plastic bottles a year. And many of those find their way into streams, landfills and waters of the Hauraki Gulf, despite efforts of many people to recycle.
Now visitors to Waiheke will be able to fill up their water bottles at a water fountain at the Matiatia Ferry building. It is one of the four locations; the others are at the wharves at Kennedy Point, Devonport and Downtown Auckland.
The idea has been inspired by an initiative trustees saw while in Sydney, Australia in 2010. In the suburb of Manly the local council has installed more than 16 water bubblers dispensing more than a million liters a year, saving an estimated two million bottles from entering their local environment. “We have some of the purest tap water in the world here in New Zealand and at the same time arguably the best Gulf resource to protect. We knew we just had to make a start, no matter how small.”