April 17, 2010

On Saturday, April 17th, 2010, San Diego State University (SDSU) undergraduate public health and environmental sciences students conducted a campus-wide cigarette butt cleanup.  They were working on behalf of the SDSU Cigarette Butt Pollution Project (cigwaste.org), whose goals are to reduce the environmental impacts of discarded cigarette butts and to advocate for adoption of waste mitigation policies at the national, state, and local levels. More than 60 student volunteers worked for about one hour to collect more than 23,000 cigarette butts from across the one-square mile campus, in addition to cigars, lighters, matches, and even cigarette cartons.

On Saturday, April 17th at 9:30-11:00 AM, San Diego State University undergraduate students will conduct a campus wide cigarette butt waste cleanup.  They will be working on behalf of the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project (cigwaste.org), whose goals are to reduce the environmental impacts of discarded cigarette butts and to advocate for adoption of waste mitigation policies at the national, state, and local levels. Cigarette butts are the single most commonly recovered item from beach and urban environmental cleanups.  In 2005, 376 billion cigarettes were consumed in the United States, and of these, 98% are filtered using cellulose acetate, a non-biodegradable plastic.  Butt waste leaches toxic chemicals into water environments, and these have been found to be deadly to fresh and saltwater fish, important micro-organisms, birds, and other marine animals.
The products of the cleanup will be presented at a Cigarette Butt Pollution Project booth as part of Earth Day celebrations at SDSU on April 22, 2010.  In attendance will be researchers, students, and Surfrider Foundation volunteers.  

For information and the opportunity to volunteer, please contact Michael Sawdey at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

A recent article by Cambridge Community Television discusses the problems with cigarette butt litter in Cambridge.  Please see the full article here:

http://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/25686