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The Downtown BIZ launched a new anti-litter campaign targeting cigarette butts February 13, 2008. The project put 27 cigarette ash receptacles on downtown sidewalks near popular smoking areas, with A-frame signs and posters describing the impact of cigarette butt litter and encouraging smokers to butt out in the new receptacles. The BIZ is cost sharing the receptacles with businesses. So far, 27 receptacles have been installed outside downtown buildings, mainly on Portage Avenue and Broadway, including in front of Portage Place, APTN, the Marlborough Hotel and the Money Mart on Broadway. The BIZ is offering to go 50/50 on the $180 receptacles with any downtown business. Signs and posters are also rolling out near popular smoking areas with a strong message showing what our streets would look like if BIZ crews weren’t picking up the cigarette butts. “It’s not that there are cigarette butts all over downtown,” says Stefano Grande, Downtown BIZ executive director. “Our Clean Team crews do a great job of picking them up. But it’s incredibly time consuming: the machines can’t always pick them up, especially when they’re right up against buildings. It’s a tedious job for our Clean Team members to sweep them up, and when cigarette butts are in planters or tree grates, we have to pick up them by hand.” Cigarette butts account for nearly 50% of items of litter in Canadian city centres. “Smokers don’t consider cigarette butts “litter,” but we’re here to say they do add up,” says Grande. “We want people to help us fight litter so we can focus on other cleanliness issues.” The BIZ commits to remove graffiti and wash the cigarette ash receptacles in the spring, and the business commits to emptying them. The program is part of the BIZ’s strategic plan this year to increase public awareness about the damaging effects of litter. |
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