On Saturday, May 6th, you can help clean up the environment by participating in The Butt Blitz events taking place in Peterborough and Cobourg.
Presented by A Greener Future, a non-profit environmental organization originally started in Bobcaygeon, the annual Butt Blitz involves volunteers across Canada picking up discarded cigarette butts so they can be safely recycled.
The Peterborough event takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough and is coordinated by Donna Reid. Volunteers will gather at The Silver Bean Cafe and then proceed along the Rotary Trail.
The Butt Blitz will also be taking place in Cobourg for the first time. It happens from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Victoria Park in downtown Cobourg and is coordinated by Julie Elizabeth Taylor and Connor Brown.
Both events take place rain or shine.
Many people are not aware of how significant an impact discarded cigarette butts have on the environment. Although smoking rates have been decreasing, cigarette butt litter continues to be a major problem. Worldwide, it’s estimated that over 4.5 trillion butts, amounting to 1.69 billion pounds, are discarded into the environment every year.
The butts are not biodegradable — they contain a plastic called cellulose acetate that lasts up to 25 years — and they contain all the toxic and carcinogenic chemicals (like arsenic, benzene, lead, and toluene), heavy metals (like cadmium), pesticides, and nicotine that make tobacco use the leading cause of preventable death worldwide.
Besides being unsightly, discarded cigarette butts also have huge implications for for the health of our ecosystems, our wildlife (animals consume the butts), and our own health. There’s also an economic impact on taxpayers, as between 25 and 50 per cent of all collected litter items from roads and streets are cigarette butts.
The first step to reversing this problem is picking up the butts already on the ground, and that’s where The Butt Blitz comes in. Coordinators recruit volunteers to pick up cigarette butts locally and then send the butts to TerraCycle Canada for recycling. In 2016, volunteers picked up 122,800 butts in a single day for recycling.
To participate in this year’s Butt Blitz events, bring gloves (mandatory), ziplock bags, and a permanent marker. Due to liability, volunteers picking up butts must be 18 years of age or older and must sign a waiver before participating.
You can collect cigarette butts from local parks, beaches, shorelines, streets, and other public places. Wearing protective gloves, pick the butts up and put them in your ziplock bag, counting as you go. Write the number on collected butts on your ziplock bag and give them to the event coordinator. The coordinator will ship them to TerraCycle Canada for recycling.
For more information on The Butt Blitz, visit www.agreenerfuture.ca/the-butt-blitz/.
VIDEO: How to Butt Blitz
