Free Tap Water in Belgian Restaurants

5 June 2019 Admin BE

App Version

Free Tap Water In Belgian Restaurants is delighted to launch an APP version of the Google Map. Two talented designers who followed the campaign offered to volunteer their time and after 6 weeks, the App. Android & Apple versions are ready, and of course, free to download & use!

The user-friendly design makes it easier for Belgians and tourists to navigate their way through the country in a sustainable way and the timing before summer begins is perfect.

There are now 400+ places across Belgium that serve free tap water and with the new app button, it will be very easy for people with the app to add new places.

The aim of this app is actually to self-destruct! It can carry a maximum of 20,000 restaurants before crashing and we would be delighted if it did crash because of this reason!

Kidney Stones & Belgian Tap Water

We asked a nephrologist, chosen at random, if he/she could shed light on the persistent rumours that Belgian Tap Water causes Kidney Stones. Professor Norbert Lameire is a world renowned nephrologist at the University of Gent and an expert in kidney stones. He wrote an article for our campaign and strongly refuted this myth. Prof Lameire says that not only does ‘hard’ tap water in Belgium NOT cause kidney stones, but it actually prevents them.

Polls

We have conducted 14 polls, each with an average of 500 voters and the results are:

– 80% feel uncomfortable asking for tap water in Belgium

– 89% feel as confident drinking tap water in Belgium as other European countries

– 57% would add an extra tip to the service charge if they were served free tap water

– 40% support the introduction of a cover charge like Italy’s Coperto to include free tap water

– 97% think Belgium should ensure McDonald’s, Burger King and other global chains should offer free tap water as they do in other European cities

– 77% of people would order a different drink to water if they were in a café that didn’t serve free tap water

– 69% think the Belgium government should offer tax incentives to restaurants that serve free tap water as an environmental policy

– 34% filter their tap water at home before drinking, 66% drink it straight from the tap

– 58% of people have stopped or reduced their bottled water consumption in the past 12 months

– 46% of Belgians think free tap water in restaurants in a cultural issue, 54% think it’s a political one

– 73% would be in favour of a “local” option in menus, where free tap water is included in the price of a dish with local ingredients

– 81% drank tap water at home in their childhood

– 79% support this campaign for environmental reasons

– 90% would prefer free tap water in restaurants if they had to choose between free bread and free tap water

International Chains in Belgium

We have asked the international chains like Burger King, McDonald’s and Le Pain Quotidien to apply the same policy in Belgium as other countries. You can have free tap water in all these branches in Paris & London, but not in Brussels. This issue attracts a lot of interest from our followers.

Numbers

Our Google Map has had 130,000 views in 2 months and we have 9600 followers on the Facebook Page where our main campaign is conducted. We have 12 volunteers from Belgium, France, Ireland, Israel, Croatia and England.

Eco-friendly Window Stickers

We have sent the first 200 eco-friendly stickers with our logo for restaurants and have an large album of images of restaurant windows with our stickers.

Brussels Airport & ‘Water With a Cause’

Brussels Airport have said they will change their “Water With a Cause” stand at the airport past security – At the moment, you can buy a single use plastic bottle for 1euro and the proceeds go to WWF and UNESCO – two charities that fight plastic pollution and which both advocate buying a reusable water bottle and taking on holiday! We suggested selling reusable water bottles with the logo of the charity and Brussels Airport and setting up a row of prominent water refilling stations.

Science Museum in Brussels

The Science Museum in Brussels have just agreed to change their policy in their museum café “The Dino Café”. The Royal Science Museum in Brussels has exhibits on plastic pollution in the oceans and also a research ship. Until the campaign, if customers wanted to drink water, they would be obliged to buy a single-use plastic bottle of water – now they can drink free tap water.

Restaurants Asking to Join

We are receiving more messages from restaurants asking to be put on the map! Our campaign has operated on a policy of “Name And Fame”, never name and shame. Any restaurant offering free tap water to a customer will go on to our map & app. We are also hearing many customers saying that they “dared” ask for tap water and received it.

Luxembourg

The movement has now spread to Luxembourg – a follower visiting Belgium returned home and has set up a sister movement, with the same stickers & logo.

Unnecessary bottled water in both plastic and glass causes untold harm to our environment – plastic pollution, carbon emissions from transporting bottles, vast amounts of water and energy used to recycle or reuse bottles. A single-use plastic bottle of Fiji is shipped 16,000kms and then could end up being shipped back to SE Asia with the rest of Europe’s unwanted plastic pollution.

Belgium’s tap water is consistently ranked with as top quality and it’s certainly the most rigorously tested product you can ingest in Belgium.