What way would you tell someone to put their cigarette butts in a bin?
I'm doing a project on stopping cigarette litter, but I can't figure out a way of telling people to stop it without attacking them. It is known that smokers already feel persecuted because they are forced to smoke outdoors and 6 feet away any door, so I don't want to attack them, but I do want to make them feel a little bit of guilt to make them think twice before flicking it.
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Join non-profit efforts already underway. http://www.cigarettelitter.org/
Support efforts your local City, County or State Beautification program, sometimes through the DOT, has to help prevent littering which is what tossing butts is. For example: this one mentions cigarettes http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/operations/dp_c…
As the above poster notes offering more ashtrays is another option. Requiring stores or businesses to provide more outside might take local city ordinances or state government. Many businesses don't want smoke coming directly in their doors so they don't provide them or place them further away. The benefit of requiring businesses to provide them is that the government doesn't have to pick up the tab for cleaning them. Check to see if your area has these requirements and what you might do to suggest legislation if it doesn't. This project will require research and is more sophisticated than preaching to littering smokers.
You could also poll business to see if they have cigarette littering issues and if they think more ashtrays would help. You could work with a non-profit agency to purchase outdoor ashtrays for business that agreed to maintain them. This would be an opportunity for you to gain fundraising experience, too.
Support more tobacconists or hookah bars. Having these about might give smokers a place to stop in as they would for coffee at Starbucks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah_loun… Though not mentioned in this article, we have a growing number in the Atlanta, GA. USA area. Outdoor areas at these allow for all types of smoke.
Canadian resources
Officials in Canada
http://www.canada.gc.ca/directories-repe…
History http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011…
USA
Officals in USA
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smo…
OR, you could create your own costume character and gad about town educating and promoting littering awareness. The owl is taken, but there are others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodsy_Owl Perhaps you could make a giant cigarette butt costume with a campaign slogan, Don't be a Butt-Head. Remember handing out fliers may create more litter and be sure seek permission if you are going to a public area such as a mall or other businesses. Some may require you obtain a permit. If your local parks are having issues, then contact the authorities responsible for the park to obtain permission to walk around educating park users while picking up trash. Maybe help out on their community scheduled days. You could create a local mascot celebrity for the fight against littering.
Good luck to you.
