New campaign to curb cigarette litter
A new scheme to try and reduce the number of cigarette ends thrown onto the streets was launched this week.
In a month-long pilot, which began on Monday (January 25), smokers are being encouraged to buy their own 'personal ashtrays' from local stores, and to use them to put out their cigarettes, instead of littering the streets.
Called “ButtsOut”, the orange ashtrays, which cost 99p to buy, are fire resistant and are small enough to fit into a jacket or coat pocket.
Hammersmith and Fulham council say cigarette litter is a huge problem and accounts for more than two thirds of all the rubbish dumped on the borough's streets. The problem has become worse since 2007, when the ban on smoking in public places was brought in and people began smoking outside instead.
Cllr Greg Smith, cabinet member for crime and street scene, said: “Cigarette litter is a growing issue in Hammersmith & Fulham and ButtsOut is an innovative way to tackle the problem. While our street sweepers clean literally millions of butts from our roads and pavements, you can do your bit by buying one of these trendy boxes. £1 really is a small price to pay if it means keeping our streets clean!
“We firmly believe that those who drop it there in the first place should pay their fair share. Dropping litter in Hammersmith & Fulham will simply not be tolerated and we will not allow the streets to be treated as a giant ashtray. There is no reason why smokers should not purchase a ButtsOut box. Our streets are not a dumping ground and the sooner the anti-social minority realise that the better. I would like to thank those retailers who are selling ButtsOut and hope that
others will also play their part in the initiative by stocking the product.”
Hammersmith & Fulham Council say they are the first local authority in London to actively
promote ‘ButtsOut’ ashtrays and they expect other councils will follow.
According to research, over 122 tonnes of cigarette litter is dropped every day in the UK and 98 percent of town centres cite cigarette litter as a major issue. Cigarette butts are also said to harm the environment: it can take between 18 months and 500 years for a stub to decompose, they are carried by storm water and dumped into our waterways, where chemicals such as cadmium and lead leach out, impacting water quality and cigarette butts have even been found in the stomachs of birds, fish and other marine animals and wildlife.
The Keep Britain Tidy group, which campaigns against litter, say they support the personal ashtray initiative: "The sheer size and scale of the cigarette litter problem is of real concern. Clearly many smokers have yet to be convinced that their cigarette stubs are litter: once dropped they are very difficult to clean up, and they blight the majority of the streets and roads we all live in and use. Therefore we fully endorse initiatives such as these, which enable smokers to act more responsibly and ultimately reduce litter on our streets," said Chief Executive Phil Barton.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council say council officers patrol the streets and have the power to issue £75 fines to persistent litter bugs under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
January 26, 2010
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