Reduce cigarette butts thrown on the streets and at the beaches
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Proposal code: Pusula / Ππούσουλας-2020-03-72
This proposal aims to reduce cigarette butts thrown on the streets by drivers and could be expanded to cover our island's beaches which face the same issue during summertime...
In a few words
In general, a small, simple cup made out of recycled paper, with a specially designed hole at the top, could be used to stop drivers from throwing their cigarette butts on the streets, prevent pollution and fires from disposed cigarettes. A small contained amount of water will immediately put out the cigarette and keep out the smoke. Used cups could be replaced with new/empty ones at Gas stations. Recycling of used cups would be available, procedure will be in place, for the apropriate handle/recycle of used cups, butts and disposed water. The same action can be extended to cover the beaches’ s visitors. The cups can be sponsored by companies, which can place their logos on them as supporters of the action.
More Details about the Proposal
A big problem with road and city pollution is produced from the drivers and their cigarette butts. Whole cigarette butt mountains are created on the side of main roads, especially where traffic forces cars to go slow, creating a third world country image to the locals and visitors!
Theoretically, smoking is prohibited while driving and new cars do not have ashtrays. In practice, this is NOT monitored efficiently by police, drivers still smoke and, with few exceptions, discard cigarette butts in the streets. Smoker drivers consider their cigarette butts to be minus trash because they are "small". Let us not forget the outbreaks of fires in the countryside and how often the cause is thrown cigarette butts!
What has been my concern in recent years is to encourage smokers not to throw cigarette butts on the road. This can be linked to gas stations, which is a place all drivers will pass through. A good solution is a cup made of hard compressed paper containing little water, and a hole at the top (in the style of a frappe cap but smaller, around 150ml-30ml water). Special designed top, will allow cigarette butts to be pushed inside, but will also allow to empty the water and keep the butts inside during disposal. The cost of the cups can be covered by environmental organizations, or even sponsored by companies, who can put their logos on the cups. At each petrol station visit, the cup can be replaced, either by the driver or by an employee of the petrol station if incentives are given to the gas station owners.
Maybe the first thought of the drivers is that they can be charged by the police for smoking in the car if found with "evidence" of the act. However, this is not the case since cigarette butts do not indicate that they were produced when the car was in motion. However, there are very few fines given from police to smoking drivers, and the driver must be “caught in act” while smoking.
At the cup supply/exchange points, there are many options. Environmental organizations can measure the benefits and cigarette butts that have been "dumped" off the road, recycle the cups, and run awareness campaigns. Campaigns can also be conducted at traffic lights, asking drivers if they are smokers so they can be supplied with the special cups.
Action can be expanded at the island’s beaches, to reduce cigarette buts thrown there by Summer visitors! Volunteers can introduce the special cigarettes disposal cups to the beaches’ s visitors, and free cups can be acquired by several spots with disposal bin and empty cups supply.
External video
https://youtu.be/STTEg314W28