Kick Butts
Combat Cigarette Litter in Your Community
What do you see - people, activities, restaurants, stores, homes and gardens catch our eye as we walk around our campuses and communities. But do we usually look down at the sidewalks? Do we see it? It's cigarette litter! And, once we notice it, we realize it is all around us, mostly in areas without ash receptacles.
About 95 percent of cigarette filters are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic which does not quickly degrade and can persist in the environment. While cigarette litter may seem small, it adds up to a big impact on the places we live:
Challenging to a community's quality of life.
Cigarette litter is unsightly. It accumulates in many places,
gathering in corners, gutters, and outside doorways and bus shelters.
Increasing amounts of litter in business districts and other signs of
disorder create a sense that no one cares about the community.
Harmful to waterways and wildlife.
About 18 percent of litter, traveling primarily through storm water
systems, ends up in local streams, rivers, and waterways. Cigarette
litter also poses a hazard to animals and marine life when they
mistake filters for food.
Costly to residents and businesses.
Cigarette litter requires additional sidewalk and street sweeping,
greenway and park maintenance, storm drain cleaning, and increased
maintenance of storm water filters. Business owners also bear the
expense of cigarette litter clean-up around their establishments
including entrances, exits, and adjacent sidewalks and parking lots.
Keep America Beautiful has produced the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) which is now available free of charge on a CD via their website at www.kab.org. The program CD presents all the information and identifies all the resources needed. The CLPP has been researched, field-tested in more than a dozen U.S. cities, and developed through a partnership with Philip Morris USA. This multi-dimensional program requires a strong team to address its four solutions to cigarette litter.
Four Strategies to Prevent Cigarette Litter
Enforcement of Anti-Litter Laws
Encourage law enforcement officials in your community to
enforce litter laws. In some cities, litter ordinances are in place, but
not vigorously enforced. In others, new ordinances are required to
address cigarette litter and litter in general. Litter laws may need to
be strengthened to specifically include cigarette litter.
Installing Ash Receptacles
Work with your local Keep America Beautiful affiliate or
another community partner with a stake in reducing cigarette
litter that will purchase, install, and maintain ash receptacles at
targeted transition points (areas outside public buildings, shops,
restaurants, bus stops, etc.).
Encouraging the Use of Pocket Ashtrays
While pocket ashtrays are common in other countries, like
Australia, France, and throughout Europe, they are still a novelty in
the U.S. A pocket ashtray is a small, portable ashtray that fits into
a pocket, briefcase or purse. These allow smokers the opportunity
to be personally responsible for proper disposal of cigarettes, even
when they're not in an area with available ash receptacles. To find out
how you can order or help distribute pocket ashtrays, contact Keep
America Beautiful.
Changing Behavior Through Public Education
Use a public awareness campaign to encourage smokers to take
personal responsibility for proper disposal of cigarette litter. Take
advantage of Keep America Beautiful's media resources, including
print ads, scripts for radio ads, brochures and sample press releases
to kick off your campaign and announce your program results.
FAST FACT: Cigarettes, packaging and lighting material are the most littered item in America.
For more information, visit Keep America Beautiful's website at www.kab.org or contact Phi Theta Kappa's Director of Programs Jennifer Stanford at 601.984.3532.
