Cigarette butts are causing trouble in South Africa. Many people believe cigarette butts are biodegradable. Some even believe organic cigarette filters are being made.

There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding cigarette butt litter. The biggest myth is that cigarette filters are biodegradable. In fact, cigarette butts are not biodegradable in the sense that most people think of the word. The acetate (plastic) filters can take 10 years to decompose. Smokers may not realize that their actions have such a lasting, negative impact on the environment.

What happens after that butt gets casually flicked onto the street, nature trail, or beach? Typically wind and rain carry the cigarette into the water supply, where the toxic chemicals the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many aquatic lifeforms. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with several trillion butts littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up!

Lets not forget that South Africa has recently passed a new smoking law. Inconvenienced by the new law, and lack of public ashtrays, in many cases the immediate reaction of smokers is to dispose of cigarette butts on the floor of property owners. The increasing volumes of improperly disposed of cigarette butts is both unattractive and unhygienic and is a problem faced in public spaces, entrances to office blocks, restaurants, bars, pubs, shopping centres and city streets.

In South Africa, an environmental solution to inform and educate smokers about the need for better disposal of cigarette butts will certainly go a long way in both keeping the streets tidy and protecting the environment.

Smokers should be encouraged to dispose of their cigarette ends responsibly. However, to ensure its ultimate effectiveness a proactive, responsible means of disposing of cigarettes must be available. More outdoor ashtrays need to be introduced.

A local company called Ash n Ad supplies cigarette ashtrays to businesses to help comply with legislation related to South Africa’s new smoking ban.

With millions of smokers now heading outdoors to smoke, this has lead to an increase in smoking related litter – primarily discarded stubs. This confirms that there is a demand from both the smoker and business owner to use the Ashtrays. Local council also see the value of the ashtrays as a way to help reduce litter on our pavements too.

For more information about Ash n Ad and how you can order your own ashtray. Please visit www.ashnad.co.za. Put your butt into it and lets keep South Africa Tidy.