Yesterday, the Alcobendas City Council and the Ávora association launched a awareness campaign among smokers in the municipality about the significant impact of dropping a cigarette butt on the ground after finishing smoking.
The Councilor for Environment, Jesús Montero, and the Councilor for Institutional Relations, Carmen Arcas, accompanied the team of monitors from this association and also distributed reusable portable ashtrays to buyers at the municipal market held every Monday.
Montero emphasized that «the goal of this campaign is to reduce the impact of cigarette butts on the environment and public health. Properly extinguishing the cigarette butt and disposing of it in a portable ashtray or trash can is a small but necessary gesture to take care of our streets.»
The monitors from the Ávora association were at the municipal market until 1:00 pm distributing hundreds of small portable bags and raising awareness among smokers that their actions are key to keeping Alcobendas clean. This Ávora team will return to the market on May 5th and 19th.
It is estimated that 766,571 tons of cigarette butts end up in the trash each year. Each cigarette filter contains cellulose acetate fibers, a microplastic that takes years to decompose. If it ends up on the ground, in rivers, and ultimately in the sea, it can be ingested by fish and enter the food chain.
The campaign aims to promote the idea that, just as we avoid throwing paper or other waste on the ground, we should also refrain from discarding cigarette butts on the ground. This behavior, already ingrained in certain places like the beach, needs to be extended to all urban public spaces.
Ávora is a non-profit association established by tobacco producers to assist in the proper management of this waste and raise awareness among the public about the importance of correctly disposing of cigarette butts.
