Campaign to clean up one million cigarette butts comes to Halifax

Haligonians put on gloves and pounded the pavement Saturday in an effort to clean up cigarette butts in downtown Halifax.

It was part of a ‘Butt Blitz’ put on by A Greener Future and Unsmoke Canada, which said cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world.

Saint Mary’s University Environmental Society President Kagan Akiyama participated in the cleanup.

“It’s been a problem in Halifax for years,” she said.

“Cigarettes obviously have chemicals in them, which can leech into soils, and it can deteriorate soil quality.”

A Greener Future said cleaning up cigarette butts is important for three main reasons:

• environmental pollution
• wildlife threats
• fire hazards

The organization’s goal is to collect one million cigarette butts across Canada during the month of April.

“Events like this, we get people together who are of like mindedness and cleaning up as much as we can and doing as much good as we can with the little power that we have,” said Akiyama.

“Hopefully people see this and feel a little bit more inspired to do some good and maybe clean up some cigarettes that they see around their neighbourhoods.”

A Greener Future and Unsmoke Canada hope to collect another 500,000 cigarette butts in September. They said all cigarette butts will be sent for recycling.

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