Cigarette litter is the most pervasive form of litter in the world, and contains many harmful toxins. It’s also made of a form of plastic, called cellulose acetate.
On January 21st 2022, Clean Up Britain launched the most comprehensive anti-cigarette litter behavioural change campaign ever undertaken in Britain. The campaign, ‘Get your butt off our streets’, is being piloted in Bristol, with the intention of rolling it out across the entire country.
There are a staggering 27 billion cigarette butts littered in Britain every year allowing toxins to seep into the environment causing significant environmental pollution to watercourses and soil. In addition, there are now three million vapers in Britain, and e-cigarette waste is also very serious since it exposes plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals, lead, mercury and flammable lithium batteries into waterways, soil and to wildlife.
Smoking-related litter is an issue of growing concern to society, and while many smokers dispose of their waste properly, too much waste ends up polluting the environment. We are delivering a comprehensive programme of behavioural change interventions in Bristol aimed at reducing cigarette butt littering at its source, by encouraging adult smokers to dispose of their cigarette butts properly.
Here’s a gallery of our posters being used in Bristol.
