The Seattle chapter is trying to clean up our beaches by helping people put their cigarette butts where they belong. Cigarette butts are the number one item collected on beach cleanups around the world, and though there are rules to smoking on beaches in Seattle, we continue to find them every time we do a beach cleanup! In response the chapter has begun a Hold On To Your Butts (HOTYB) committee focused on raising awareness of this issue and taking an active role in reducing the waste.
The Seattle Chapter is looking at this as both a Surfrider campaign and program. The programmatic side being the installation of cigarette canisters like the one below at various locations throughout Seattle. The other being working with the city of Seattle on making our beaches and parks smoke free. We value healthy and clean areas for recreation and reducing cigarette waste in these locations goes a long way to helping both heath and the environment. See this recent
press release issued by the city of Seattle in regards to making our parks and beaches smoke free.
On the program side, the chapter is looking for local businesses, especially near beaches like Alki, to sponsor ash cans and partner with us to get these toxic butts off of our beaches and out of our waters. Check out this
success story from the Vancouver Island Chapter on their highly successful HOTYB program! For any further questions regarding HOTYB please contact our chapter committee at hotyb@seattle.surfrider.org