New Hydration stations steal the show at Port Shorts
ENVIRONMENT
Douglas Shire Council has unveiled its new reef and rainforest-themed portable water refilling stations and drinking fountains at Port Shorts Film Festival over the weekend.
The initiative comes after a community petition campaign for more water refill stations around the shire in a bid to reduce the use of single-use plastics.
The debut of the stations at the film festival was in the hopes of urging event-goers to reuse their water bottles and is in line with recent changes to Council’s events policy, which encourages event organisers to include sustainable practices at their events.
Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu said it’s great to see local events supporting initiatives to reduce their environmental impact.
“We encourage local events to make the environment a major part of their planning process,” she said.
“This means thinking about how they can reduce waste and use other eco-friendly practices."
Council also partnered with Tangaroa Blue under the Plastic Free Douglas Reef Clean initiative to showcase the “Butt It, Bin It” program at Port Shorts.
As part of this, more than a hundred old mint tins were recycled into personal ashtrays and were distributed at the festival to raise awareness of the impact cigarette butts have on the environment.
“With the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics Rainforest on our doorstep, it’s important we show anyone visiting for an event that we are a leading sustainable destination," Mayor Leu said.
Douglas Shire Council adopted these projects when it passed the 2019-20 Annual Budget, which featured several initiatives aimed at reducing plastic in Douglas Shire.
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