Keep America Beautiful

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CIGARETTE LITTER PREVENTION PROGRAM

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in America.

The 2011 Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup again identified cigarette butts as the number one most littered item, representing 32% of all debris counted.

And Keep America Beautiful's 2009 "Litter in America" research found the overall littering rate for cigarette butts is 65%, with tobacco products comprising 38% of all U.S. roadway litter. Download the fact sheet.

While seemingly insignificant, dropping cigarette butts to the ground, putting them in planters, and disposing of them in waterways is littering. And there are consequences. Cigarette butt litter is unsightly, costly to clean up, and harmful to waterways and wildlife.

In 2011, cities and towns that implemented Keep America Beautiful's Cigarette Litter Prevention Program had an average reduction in cigarette butt litter of 54%. For similar results in your community, use the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program to implement four proven strategies to reduce cigarette butt litter:

  • Support enforcement of local litter laws, including cigarette litter.
  • Change littering behavior through public education/messaging
  • Install ash receptacles at "transition points," places where smokers must stop smoking before proceeding.
  • Distribute pocket ashtrays to adult smokers

Cigarette Butts are litter too. 
 

Guide to Cigarette Litter Prevention

 

Cigarette Litter Prevention Program Web site home page

Keep America Beautiful's Cigarette Litter Prevention Program has been field tested in communities across the U.S. since 2003. On average, cities and towns that implement the program can reduce their cigarette butt litter by half. Design for community, municipal , and business leaders that want to reduce the economic and environmental impacts of cigarette butt litter, the online program includes education and facts, a step-by-step implementation guide, and turn-key resources.

The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program is made possible by a grant from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company, with additional support from RAI Services Company.