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Verdemar Ecologistas en Acción : ‘No Cigarette Butts on the Sea Shore’ (Orillas sin Colillas) – Small initiatives that make a big difference…
Verdemar Ecologistas en Acción launches awareness campaign on the dangers of cigarette ends in Sotogrande beaches.
Summers on the beach; swimming, enjoying the sea breeze and playing by the shore… An idyllic scene until, suddenly, you step on a cigarette butt. We have one very simple question: How difficult it is to keep cigarette butts in a container and throw it in the bin later? The answer is as simple: it’s not.
However, many ignorant smokers – of course, not all of them – tend to use the beaches as ashtrays, leaving a trail of cigarette butts behind, polluting the natural environment which belong to everyone. In addition, the damage to the marine environment is immense.
‘Verdemar-Ecologistas en Acción’ can attest to the damage caused by cigarette ends. What looks like a harmless cigarette filter is actually a chemical bomb. The cellulose acetate it is made of a cocktail of substances. In addition to nicotine and tar, arsenic, cadmium, copper, nickel and other heavy metals are also present.
All this is contained in one single cigarette butt. A small dose that, multiplied by the billions of units scattered around the beaches every year, becomes one of the biggest environmental problems we face today.
Depending on the quantity of toxic components, a cigarette butt can take between 10 and 25 years to decompose in the sea. This has a brutal impact. In addition, one of the components, cellulose acetate, is highly toxic and finds its way into the marine food cycle, according to Alfredo Valencia, spokesman for Verdemar-Ecologistas en Acción.
“Although it is impossible guess the amount of cigarette ends we throw into the sea, the accumulation of these residues is proving highly toxic to marine life,” he adds.
Given the scale of the problem, Verdemar-Ecologistas have started the “Orillas sin colillas” (shores without cigarette butts) campaign this summer, to raise awareness of the importance of disposing of cigarettes properly.
The initiative started in Sotogrande in line with World Environment Day, which was held on the 5th of June. Two ‘Colilleros’ (DIY ashtrays) were installed at Club Playa Octógono and the Sailing Club.
These are structures made of reused wood with several cans hanging from ropes. Smokers can pick up a colillero when they arrive at the beach and, once used, place them back so that another smoker can do the same.
These simple but eye-catching structures, inspired by similar environmental initiatives from around Europe, will be installed on all beaches around the Campo de Gibraltar this summer. The success of this initiative depends solely on us. Our beaches and our sea deserve it.
Verdemar Ecologistas en Acción : ‘No Cigarette Butts on the Sea Shore’ – Small initiatives that make a big difference
