Today marks 3 months since I first arrived tired and nervous at the international airport in Bangkok. Now three months, three countries, and many adventures later I’m proud to say that I have yet to use a single disposable water bottle. YES!! This was the only plan all along, to experience South East Asia without leaving a trail of bottles, and other plastics behind. Although I’ve been successful up to this day, it hasn’t been easy. After all, that’s why most people drink bottled water, they’re cheap, convenient, and they’re everywhere. But I wasn’t going for convenience when it came to my water supply, I was going for waste reduction.
Here’s how we’ve managed to pull it off.
Filling up at the guesthouse/hotel/hostel/homestay/etc. Fortunately most of the guesthouses or hotels we’ve stayed at have had filtered water for us to drink. At some of the guesthouses the water was only for staff or kitchen use but by asking nicely we’ve been able to use it. This has by far been the most convenient when traveling. You can fill up anytime you’re there and before you leave to go exploring for the day.

Filling up at restaurants. Many of the little family-run restaurants in Thailand and Laos have free water for customers. Whenever we eat at these places, which is sometimes quite often, we fill up our bottles. Good, inexpensive vegetarian food and zero waste water = Win Win!
Keeping an eye out for water coolers. We’ve filled up our bottles at the Post Office, the train station, the Thai Consulate, the doctor’s office, and even at the Buddhist monastery. We have our bottles everywhere we go, and everywhere we go I keep an eye out for a zero waste water supply. Fernando says I have a sort of radar for it.

Offering to pay. Although the majority of the people we have asked for water have been happy to give it to us for free (and don’t let us pay), some haven’t, and that’s when we ask them to sell us water. This hasn’t happened many times but by wording it differently some people have felt more inclined to let us refill our bottles in exchange for a few coins. This happened in Koh Lanta, I saw they had a 5 gallon jug at the little market, I asked the man if I could have some water, that I would pay, but he seemed confused and pointed to the many bottles he had for sale in the refrigerators. I told him why I didn’t want them but that I would be happy to pay to refill from his 5 gallon jug and showed him the coins. In the end he seemed to be fine with it and we were all very happy.
Refusing free bottles. Since most people drink bottled water, many hotel rooms or bus tickets include a bottle for each of us. Even though it’s free, it’s still waste, so we kindly refuse, point to our reusable bottle and explain that disposable bottles create too much plastic waste.
Coconut Water. And finally, there’s almost always coconut water straight from the source available. I’ve probably only had about 5 coconuts while I’ve been here, but it’s not for a lack of supply. It’s a fresh, delicious, plastic-free option!
All the best,
Monica
This is fantastic to read guys, congratulations on your efforts. I am part of a group of owners/ managers of businesses on Koh Tao that are offering #getinvolved Eco flasks in conjunction with Trash Hero. We would appreciate your help in spreading the word as anyone owning a flask will have access to free water at any of our filling stations across the island and indeed, at any Trash Hero filling station across Thailand. Once again, HUGE congratulations!!
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Thank you so much Matt! We haven’t been to Koh Tao but we did go to Koh Lanta where I did the Trash Hero cleanup! And it was awesome to see the refill stations and eco flasks. I LOVE the movement! I’ll do my best to spread the word, especially when we’re back in Thailand in July. 🙂
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I was so happy when a lady in Taiwan gave me a refillable water bottle which I used from then on. I didn’t manage to never touch a plastic bottle again (even though I always had my bottle with me), so I admit I sometimes refilled my bottle from a plastic bottle. That’s why I’m even more proud of you, you did it all the way. I would agree that most of the time it’s not very difficult to find places to refill bottles.
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This inspired me to do the same for my month long trip in Malaysia, thanks! The water refill vending machines are great, but so few and far between. I might try and start a Google maps where people can add locations of machines they come across – I’ll post here!
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I have discovered the app called Refill. That is for exactly that purpose (ref. Google maps). Everyone can add refill-stations to make ut easier for the next person to find them! I would love if more people used it. Rght now there are mostly registered refill-stations in the UK.
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That’s great – thanks for the heads up 🙂
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Hi MM, sorry it took so long to respond! That’s so useful! I’ll check it out here in Spain 😀
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