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cigarette butt receptacle

Cigarette Fairy Poster

Spoiler Alert – There Is No Cigarette Fairy

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One of our affiliates, Keep Manassas Beautiful, launched a campaign suggesting that the “Cigarette Fairy” just can’t keep up with the most littered item in our landscape and storm drains.  The purpose of their campaign was to add a litter humor while engaging residents to improve their community through litter prevention.  With funding awarded by Keep Virginia Beautiful’s Green Grants, their first Cigarette Litter Prevention Program raised awareness of new littering ordinances, and reminded citizens about the proper way to dispose of their cigarette litter.

However, I’m sorry to say, there is no Cigarette Fairy.  There is no magic solution, folks.  Just common sense.  There’s so much we can do; there’s so much that YOU can do!  We hope that you’ll use our website as a resource for many things — to participate in events as they become available again, or Adopt-a-Highway to clean up a stretch of road (and get your name on a VDOT sign!), or support us financially so we can continue to educate the public and put the right tools in your hands.

Speaking of tools you can use, if you’re an adult smoker who would like a pocket ashtray, all you have to do is take the pledge not to litter, and we’ll send you one for free.  If you are the owner of a business or organization that would benefit from a Cigarette Butt Receptacle to deter cigarette litter, enter your name before August 31st to be included in our drawing for one of ten receptacles.

A Litter Study conducted by Keep America Beautiful revealed that smokers are more likely to litter if the environment contains any type of litter, not just cigarette butts. More littered environments encourage more littering.  A clean street, parking lot, playground, and community encourages others to behave responsibly.  Let us know that you would like to receive one of ten Cleanup Kits that we’re giving away this month!

*Credits for bringing the Cigarette Fairy to life go to the talented artistry of Heather Maltby-Goble’s and Evolution Printing.  See more about Keep Manassas Beautiful’s campaign.

Scenic Bench

Can You Recycle Cigarette Butts?

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You probably know the bad things that happen with discarded cigarette butts, since they are the most littered item in America – the world, actually.  But we’d like for you to know that there is something positive that can be done with cigarette butts when they are properly collected and recycled.  Yes, recycled!

TerraCycle is a company that recycles many things – you’d be surprised!  And one of them is cigarette waste.  Individuals and organizations can send cigarettes, cigarette butts, cigarette filters, loose tobacco pouches, outer plastic packaging, inner foil packaging, rolling paper, and ash to TerraCycle.   (Cigarette boxes made from paper can be recycled through main stream, local programs.)  What do they DO with it?  Good question.

The cigarette butts are sorted by their different materials:  left over tobacco, paper, and the filter.  Any remaining tobacco and the paper around the filter are composted.  (Compost turns into beautiful, rich soil that’s great for growing plants.)  The filter part of a cigarette butt is NOT a naturally biodegradable product.  It is made of a white synthetic fiber called, cellulose acetate, which is then melted and made into pellets.

So what good are pelletized cigarette filters?  They are combined with other plastics and used to make things like shipping pallets and benches.  Who knew?  Now YOU know.  And now you can do something about the cigarette litter problem.

If you own a business or are with an organization that could benefit from a cigarette receptacle to collect and recycle! or properly dispose of cigarette waste, we’re giving away ten cigarette butt receptacles during the month of August.  All you need to do is enter your name on this form before midnight August 31, 2020.  A receptacle will be shipped directly to you!  Then YOU can start making a difference in your community.

We are also giving away a pocket ashtray to anyone who requests one, while supplies last.  Simply go to our website to take the pledge to Keep Virginia Beautiful by disposing of your cigarette butts responsibly, and give us your name and mailing address on the form provided.  We will mail you a pocket ashtray!

 

Cigarette Butts

Put Your Butt Where it Belongs

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Yes, you’ve seen the cigarette butt tossed out of a car window at the stop light, or flicked onto the ground.  But do you know what happens to those cigarette butts after they’re littered?  The get washed by the rain into the storm drains, and eventually into the waterways of Virginia.

Some people thing that a cigarette butt is made of natural fibers that will dissolve before it does any harm, or that it’s biodegradable.

Some people think that a cigarette butt is so small that it can’t do much harm.

But those small cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate, and they do not biodegrade!  They accumulate and clog!  Cigarette butts remain the most littered item in the U.S. and across the globe. Dropping cigarette butts and cigar tips to the ground, putting them in planters, and disposing of them in waterways is littering.

Most cigarette littering happens at “transition points.” Tobacco products are most often littered in areas where a smoker must extinguish what they’re smoking before proceeding, such as outside of a retail store, a restaurant, bars, and office buildings. They also litter them when accessing beaches, parks, recreation areas, and especially at roadside rest areas and parking lots.  A cigarette butt receptacle can make a huge impact at those areas — these transition points.

So we want to help you tackle those transition points!  If you have a business or work with a business or public space where cigarette litter is a problem, submit your name to be entered in a drawing for a cigarette butt receptacle.  Then make the commitment to make a difference!  Ten names will be chosen this month to receive a standing receptacle shipped directly to you at no cost.