LITTER RESOURCE. Cigarette butts a blight on Scotland s streets Your guide to cigarette butt litter

Transcription

1 LITTER RESOURCE butts a blight on Scotland s streets Your guide to cigarette butt litter

2 2 INTRODUCTION TO CIGARETTE BUTTS Introduction to cigarette butts a blight on Scotland s streets Walk through any town or city in Scotland and, chances are, you re never far from a discarded cigarette butt. This all adds up to a litter problem that s dirty, unsightly and riddled with harmful chemicals. It s also a problem that burns through the public pocket, as Scotland s local authorities fight to clean up our streets, only to see them littered again. Whichever way you look at it, cigarette waste is costing us all a packet. What s this guide about? Tackling cigarette litter isn t a straightforward task but it is possible. This guide will help you understand the problem, learn from others, and find resources to help you communicate with businesses and individuals about the negative effects of not binning our butts. Smoking-related litter generally includes packaging: cardboard boxes, foil and plastic wrapping. These cause litter too. But cigarette butts because of the sheer numbers dropped, the time they take to degrade and the toxic materials they contain are a special case. So that s what we ll focus on here.

3 3 WHAT S THE PROBLEM? What s the problem? No two ways about it cigarette butts left on the ground are litter. And there s a serious double standard at play. Many smokers wouldn t dream of dropping any other type of rubbish, but somehow see dropping cigarette ends as perfectly acceptable. When asked, smokers often say that putting cigarette ends or cigar tips in a public bin poses a fire hazard, or that carrying them around is unreasonably dirty and smelly. Some even say they believe a drain is an acceptable alternative to a bin which it isn t. Or that dropping cigarette butts is fine because they re biodegradable which they re not. In fact, these little menaces take up to 12 years to fully break down, leaching out unpleasant chemicals while they re at it. What about smokers who realise dropping cigarette ends is the wrong thing to do? Some of them argue that dealing with disposal is someone else s job. Which is why local authority cleaning teams have to spend their days fishing cigarette ends out of awkward spaces from tree grates to gravel pits. 120 tonnes of cigarette butts are thrown away every day by UK smokers OK, so whose problem is it? Obviously, each litterer is responsible for making sure their smokingrelated rubbish ends up in the bin. Catch them shirking this duty, and you can impose a fine. Otherwise, it becomes a burden for landowners. And if that landowner happens to be a local authority, the Scottish taxpayer has to pick up the bill. This point is crucial because once businesses, employers and individuals realise the full financial and non-financial impacts of cigarette litter, we ll stand a chance of stemming the tide.

4 4 WHAT S THE PROBLEM? The problem in numbers What s the size of the problem we re dealing with? Since the smoking ban forced Scotland s smokers outside, cigarette litter has become more visible on our streets. But lack of awareness, lack of ashtrays and perhaps other reasons too are making the problem worse still. The figures show the scale of the situation: Around half of Scotland s streets are affected by smoking-related litter (butts, matches and packaging). In our towns and cities, this figure rises to almost 75%. Every day, UK smokers throw away about 200 million butts. s account for over 40 percent of street litter. 120 tonnes of cigarette-related rubbish are discarded on Britain s streets every day. Other impacts There are also other impacts that the numbers don t reflect. For example, cigarette butts leak toxins into our rivers and seas. filters have also been found in the stomachs of creatures who mistake them for food, including fish, birds and whales. ½ of Scotland s streets are affected by smoking-related litter rises to almost 75% in towns & cities

5 5 LESSONS FROM ACROSS THE POND Lessons from across the pond Don t be fooled into thinking Scotland is the only country fighting the blight of discarded cigarette ends. Worldwide, around 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered each year. A sobering thought. So what s everyone else doing about it? In 2009, Keep America Beautiful researched cigarette litter in the States. Among other things, they found that: Littered cigarette butts - are mostly dropped on the ground. Dropping them into bushes or shrubbery or on or around waste bins is also common, as is littering into planters. Making cigarette bins availableeither stand-alone or integrated into a litter bin leads to lower rates of cigarette butt littering. Smokers are more likely to litterif there s already litter around that s any litter, not just cigarette butts. Younger adult smokers - are more likely to litter cigarette butts than their older counterparts. 4.5 trillion cigarettes butts are littered worldwide each year Understanding the issue Once they understood the problem, they created a specific plan to address it. This included: Increasing the availability of public ashtrays Promoting the use of portable ashtrays Cleaning-up public spaces to deter litterers Motivating the public with messages about individual responsibilities and obligations These are measures we can adopt with relative ease in Scotland and there s plenty already being done here too.

6 6 GET KITTED OUT Get kitted out Here are some tips for getting the ball rolling in your area. Get kitted out Ashtrays Having enough ashtrays is the first step in encouraging smokers to bin their cigarettes responsibly. Wall-mounted. Free-standing. Integrated there s a range of styles available to fit different locations. Get creative Ever seen a white van with wash me scrawled on the back? Believe it or not, this same technique clean graffiti can be used to discourage smokers from dropping their cigarette butts. Simply power-wash a stencil to a dirty surface. The message is reproduced with zero damage to the environment. Ballot bin butt boxes Installed as part of Edinburgh s Neat Streets project showed that adding a novel twist can help attract attention to your litter prevention efforts. Portable ashtrays Portable ashtrays make for a great giveaway, so smokers are never left stuck with a butt and no bin to put it in. Give them a sign It may sound basic, but reminding people to dispose of their cigarette responsibly really works. Simple signs near ashtrays and benches are often enough of a nudge to change behaviour.

7 Topics Item one 7 GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT THERE Get your message Item two Item one Item three Item two Item four Item three Item five Item four Items six Item five Item seven Items six Item eight Item seven Item nine Item eight on Scotland s streets butts a blight on Scotland s streets Up to They don t just vanish. filters are full of plastics BACK NEXT called cellulose acetate that can take up to 12 years to decompose. 12 Related Websites Author 14 Aug 17 Visit Related Websites Author 14 Aug 17 Visit Related Downloads Download our guide to cigarette litter Download our guide to cigarette litter Tackling cigarette litter isn t a straightforward task but it is possible. Our guide will help you understand the problem, learn from others, and find resources to help you communicate with businesses and individuals about the negative effects of not binning our butts. Tackling cigarette litter isn t a straightforward task but it is possible. Our guide will help you understand the problem, learn from others, and find resources to help you communicate with businesses and individuals about the negative effects of not binning our butts. years XXXXXXXXX Related Downloads SECTIONS XXXXXXXXX SECTIONS Homepage LITTER RESOURCE Go back SECTIONS butts a blight on Scotland s streets Item nine Introduction Homepage LITTER RESOURCE Your guide to cigarette butt litter Go back butts a blight on Scotland s streets What s the problem? Introduction Your guide to butts Claim 2: We spend millions cleaning up cigarette ends Homepage Fact. Each year, year, local local authorities authorities spend spend million million2 to to stop stop our our streets streets disappearing disappearing under under a a mountain mountain Fact. Each of of smoking-related smoking-related litter. litter. But But if if no no stubs stubs were were littered, littered, this this money money could could be be better better spent spent elsewhere. elsewhere. 2 Lessons fromthe Whats across theproblem? pond Lessons from Get kitted out across the pond butt littering won t go away on its own. Communicating the cost of clearing up and the damage cigarette butts can cause to our environment will help change hearts and minds. There s a wealth of information and ideas on the Zero Waste Scotland website, including the targeted messaging toolkit which contains free artwork you can adapt for your audiences. Visit zerowastescotland.org.uk/litter-flytipping Download Infographic here Local authorities spend 34 million litter campaign support each year to clean up smoking-related litter We ve prepared two short articles about cigarette litter that come litter campaign complete with visualsupport support. You can use these in newsletters and other litter campaign support communications with residents. There are also tweets and a cigarette butt infographic you can use on your own site and use on social media. Get your message Headline here Conclusion You can use these short articles and tweets to highlight problems, motivate businesses and other organisations to provide better facilities, and encourage smokers to think twice about littering. We ve also included some ideas to support your litter prevention efforts. You can use these short articles and tweets to highlight problems, motivate businesses and other organisations to provide better facilities, and encourage smokers to think twice about littering. We ve also included some ideas to support your litter prevention efforts. Introduction to cigarette butts Article 1 Smokers etiquette Article 1 Download Article 1: separating fact from fiction Smokers etiquette Even if you want to dispose of youretiquette cigarette responsibly, urban myths doing the rounds make it hard to Smokers separating fiction know right from wrong. Wefact separatefrom fact from fiction. separating fact from fiction Even if you want to dispose of your cigarette responsibly, urban myths doing the rounds make it hard to know right from wrong. We separate fact from fiction. Claim 1: butts are biodegradable Download Claim 1: Claim 1: Fiction buttsbutts are biodegradable are They actually take up to 12 years to break down. That means if you drop a butt when you re 18, it could still be there when you re 30. Fiction. They actually take up to 12 years to break down. That means if you drop a butt when you re 18, biodegradable it could still be there when you re 30. Up to Up to years years They don t just vanish. filters are They just vanish. full ofdon t plastics filtersacetate are called cellulose fullthat of plastics can take up to called cellulose acetate 12 years to decompose. that can take up to 12 years to decompose. Download Claim 3: Claim 3: buttsbutts don t count as litter don t count as litter Fiction. If If you you drop drop smoking-related smoking-related items items including including cigarette cigarette butts butts on on the the street, street, they they become become Fiction. waste in in the the wrong wrong place. place. And And that that makes makes them them litter. litter. Get Get caught caught in in the the act act and and you you could could earn earn yourself yourself waste an fine. fine. an If you drop your cigarette butt on the street you could be fined What s the problem? Download Claim 4: Claim 4: Putting cigarette stubs in a litter bin is a fire hazardcigarette stubs in a litter Putting Lessons from across the pond bin is a fire hazard Fiction. There s There s lots lots of of confusion confusion around around whether whether binning binning butts butts is is safe. safe. Rest Rest assured, assured, as as long long as as you you Fiction. check your your cigarette cigarette is is fully fully out, out, it s it s fine fine to to put put it it in in a a rubbish rubbish bin. bin. check Claim 2: Claimspend 2: We a packet cleaning up Download Claim 2: cigarette We spendends millions cleaning up cigarette ends We spend millions cleaning up cigarette ends Fact Fact. Each year, local authorities spend 34 million2 to stop our streets disappearing under a mountain It s not just the cigarette empty packets, foil spent too. Inelsewhere. fact, cigarette of smoking-related litter.ends, But ifit s nothe stubs were littered,cellophane this moneywrappers could beand better related waste accounts for nearly 40% of the littered items on our streets. Put them in the bin and we could save on clean-up costs, and use the savings to improve Scotland s essential services. Local authorities spend 34 million Get kitted out each year to clean up smoking-related litter Get the the message message out there Get No ifs, no butts. Claim 3: Claim 3: butts don t count as litter Zero Waste Waste Scotland Scotland Zero Follow Follow Get your message

8 8 GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT THERE Get your message