Clean up - 3000 Butts in 2 hours, 308 days left

No Butts on Beaches! Last week's Clean up of a public Glyfada beach certainly inspired me to up the pace. We collected over 3000 cigarette butts in 2 hours and we were only scratching the surface. The good news is that more people and even companies are coming on board.

And we (the Clean up Greece team) had a whole school class participating and a sponsor. They painted benches and flowerpots and one graffiti artist painting ugly walls of houses.

www.cleanupgreece.org.gr

Stay tuned....

Some Progress and Resources ...324 days to go

Finally connected with a few companies who are interested to participate in clean ups and the campaign for reducing littering. More meetings are scheduled.

In the meantime let me share some resources you may want to use in your own campaign:

Cigarette Litter—IMPACTS

The impacts of cigarette litter are many

• Toxic chemicals leach out of cigarette butts & can kill small animals
• Fires (destroys habitats for animals, homes; Economic costs of fires)
• Ingestion by children and small animals which mistake butts for food
• Cost of cleaning up litter & lost revenue from visitors
  
  

Toxins in Cigarette Butts

Cigarette butts are not just ugly—they also present a threat to wildlife. Pieces have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds, whales and other marine creatures that mistake them for food. So ingestion of plastic cigarette filters is a threat to wildlife.

Click here to read an article that was published in the August 2000 issue of the American Littoral Society journal, The Underwater Naturalist.

Fires caused by cigarette butts

According to the National Fire Protection Association, cigarette-caused fires result in more than 1,000 civilian deaths, 3,000 critical injuries (many among firefighters), and $400 million in direct property damage each year. (Source: Albany Times Union, June 13, 2003)

In January 2001, a motorist driving along Interstate 8 in San Diego County flicked a cigarette butt onto the center median, sparking a fire that eventually burned more than 10,000 acres, destroyed 16 homes and charred 64 vehicles.

Ingestion of Cigarettes and Cigarette Butts by Children

Click here for an article by the U.S. Center for Disease Control

The CDC studied 146 children aged six months to two years who had ingested cigarettes or cigarette butts. One-third of them experienced illness—the most common symptom reported was vomiting. Most ingestions occurred in homes where children were exposed to smoke and where cigarettes and ashtrays were kept within the reach of children.

The Cost of Litter

The cost of litter is great—whether the litter is cigarette butts, fast-food containers, beverage containers, or illegally dumped tires. Some of the costs are associated with the manpower it takes to pick up litter. Who picks up litter? Employees of schools, parks, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, and local governments have to pick up litter, as do volunteers who care about the environment.

Cost of picking up litter—Some Examples:
"School officials say landscapers who should be planting flowers and pruning shrubs are spending time instead picking up butts on the 15,000-acre campus: Some 13 landscapers spend 10 hours a week picking up discarded cigarettes at an estimated cost of $150,000." -- Philadelphia Daily News, March 27, 2000 on Penn State Cigarette Litter Costs

Click here for newspaper articles about how communities are trying to reduce cigarette litter. Up-to-date articles about cigarette litter and other tobacco-related topics can be found on the tobacco.org website. Click here for information about workplace smoking bans, and how they impact cigarette litter in the environment.

Still where I started-what about you? .....342 days to go

I achieved nothing over the last 10 days. My scheduled meetings did not materialize for one reason or another. So I re-scheduled. The clean up I wanted to organize for September 17th had to be postponed as my own work got in the way.

That's ok I say. I will find a suitable date to organize a clean up.

In the meantime here are some resources for you:

Getting involved is simple. Groups or organisations in any city, town or village across the globe can join Clean Up the World. Registration is free* for non business/corporate organisations and renewable annually. Just visit the Clean up the World activities website to register and put your group and its activities on the global environmental map!

*Business/Corporate Organisations Please Note: Clean Up the World requests Corporate or Large Company Members to pay a Membership fee of USD$200 to help us support not for profit Members. We will contact you in relation to this after you have registered.

with my best wishes, Christiane

Making Progress.....352 days to go

Will be leaving the island today, even though we have Leonardo Di Caprio, Pitt and Jolie here on holidays and Elton John and lots of Royalty for the wedding Greece's Ex King' son. Helicopters come and go.

Last night it seemed like the Oscars had been moved to Spetses. Rows of people on each side of the walk up to the Posidonos Hotel where a pre-wedding party was help.

The wedding is today, but I am off to Athens to keep my meeting with the Clean up Greece organizers. I also scheduled meetings with some corporate companies to discuss their support and involvement.

Stay tuned and above all....I invite you to get involved in your own area.

Great Ideas.........355 days to go

I feel a bit stuck at the moment. Lots of great ideas start buzzing around my head, but I feel somewhat handicapped to act on them right now. Why? It is still August, our major holiday month. Procrastinating? No.....mmm, maybe a little

So lets put all my great ideas on paper and then put an action plan together....355 days to to achieve my vision of a Butt free Greece. Yes, I am committed!

More soon....

Getting ready for bigger Impact....358 days to go

Today I contacted Clean up Greece (www.cleanupgreece.org.gr), a branch of Clean up the World.

The next step after this will be to find support from the citizens and get a group together for regular clean ups and promoting the 'no butts on beaches' more vigorously.

If you feel inspired to also do something to do something for the environment in your area then let me know. Maybe I can be of help.

Christiane

Having 'Clean' Fun...360 days to go

Expanded my action today to 11 strangers and ended up generating interest and having some Fun conversations. One guy suggested collecting all the butts from the beach, out them into a large plastic tube for all to see! Three people wanted to get involved and do more.

I gave them my number/took their details and they promised to start talking to the smokers they know. Also I will create a leaflet in Greek and English on the hazards of littering cigarette butts to send out and hand out.

Want to join and get involved? Drop me a comment and lets see what we can do.

Christiane

Talking to Strangers on the Beach ...day 361

It still scares me a bit. Going up to a total stranger and suggesting to him to use my pocket ashtray (photo) instead of throwing his butts on the Beach. Everyone of course is usually very friendly, still I have to nudge myself each time.

Today I spoke to 5 strangers on the beach….each took the little ashtray and promised to use it. My target for tomorrow are 10 strangers….and yes I will reach them.

If you like to get involved then contact Clean up Greece www.cleanupgreece.org.gr

Stay tuned....

Join me in spreading the word

If you are a smoker then all you need to do is to stop throwing your filters into nature, especially beaches. If you are a non smoker then you could just ask the smokers you know to kindly keep their kips until they find a bin.

If you want to take it a step further you could create a initiative at school or work. Trust me, Together we can make a Difference!

Clean Greece - No Butts on Beaches: Day 363 of "No Butts on Beaches" - Valuable Inform...

No Butts on Beaches: Day 363 of "No Butts on Beaches" - Valuable Inform...: "Clean up the World - www.cleanuptheworld.org- was established in 1993. However it all started in Australia with Clean up Australia http://ww..."

Day 363 of "No Butts on Beaches" - Valuable Information

Clean up the World - www.cleanuptheworld.org- was established in 1993. However it all started in Australia with Clean up Australia http://www.cleanup.org.au - founded by Australian Ian Kiernan in 1989. He, together with a few friends deciding to Do Something about cleaning up their beautiful country. They started with Sidney harbor and haven't stopped since.

An inspiring story. And each one of us can add to it. I know I will!

Here is some valuable information on how BUTTS effect the environment.
Share the information with as many people as possible and ask all smokers to stop throwing their Butts into nature. I am sure many will cooperate.

While most people are aware of the health risks involved in smoking, few seem to realize that cigarettes are also bad for the environment. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with an estimated 4.5 trillion butts (worldwide) littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up. 1

Butts contain hazardous chemicals such as cadmium, arsenic and lead that are partially filtered out during the smoking process. When butts are discarded, wind and rain carry them into the water supply.

Environmental impacts of discarded butts:
Not only do littered butts seriously reduce the aesthetic quality of any environment, but they can cause a great deal of harm.

• Cigarette smoke contains up to 4, 000 chemicals.
• Cigarette butts are the filters who absorb many of those chemicals.
  The toxic chemicals they contain are then leached into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and marine life.
• Cigarette butts take, on average, 1.5 years to break down.
• Cigarettes accounted for 17% of the total rubbish items collected on 2004 Clean Up Australia Day.
• Over 4,500 fires a year are caused by cigarettes and smokers’ materials.
• Cigarette butts can take up to 12 months to break down in freshwater and up to 5 years to break down in seawater.
• Birds and aquatic animals can mistake the butts as food, resulting in serious digestive problems that may lead to death.
• Butts have been found in the stomachs of young birds, sea turtles and other marine creatures.
  

What are butts made of?

Cigarette filters or butts are made from fibrous material designed to trap tar and other toxic chemicals before they reach the smoker’s lungs. The filters are made from cellulose acetate (a material similar to rayon) and are coated with paper

Each butt contains the remnants of tobacco, paper and a filter. The residue in the butts contains toxic, soluble chemicals.

Solutions

Businesses and other organizations looking for permanent cigarette butt litter solutions can contact BUTTsOUT8 for a range of products

You can also help to educate those around you such as friends, family and co-workers about the impacts of littering cigarette butts and encourage them not to litter.

Day 364....

This is what I am talking about. This is from a clean up of less than a square meter on one of our beaches on Spetses Island...go to most beaches on most islands and you will find the same.

Join me by stopping to throw cigarette butts out on the street, the pavement, the forest...anywhere.

Stop throwing cigarette butts in the street today!

The Beginning

This is the start!

The VISION: To get involved in promoting Environmental friendly activities, reduce the littering of Cigarette BUTTS on our beaches and cities.
To inspire others to better protect our environment.

To treat the environment we live in as if it were our home.

We are very clean in our houses...lets extend this attitude of cleanliness to beyond our garden fence. Lets educate our kids to honor this beautiful country, to honor the earth.

We all lead busy lives and I know that the best way to get started is by focusing on one issue at the time...until a certain momentum is created and then anything can happen.

Lets start by focusing on Cigarette Butts. Everyone can participate in stopping to throw them into nature. It takes no time or money, just willpower.

I am sad to see little kids picking up the Butts knowing that these little yellow stubs are filled with toxins which can be harmful to a child, an adult, the earth.

Stay tuned and I will keep you updated...and of course any contributions are very welcome. Simply send me your comments.

This is the Start!