The Butt Blitz of 2017 is underway and downtown businesses are chipping in. The Butt Blitz aims to remove the thousands of cigarette butts that are thrown onto downtown Barrie streets every day by having folks put them in one of the 23 cigarette containers throughout the area. A press conference was organized by the Downtown Barrie BIA Thursday at ZuZu Fashion Boutique. ZuZu owner Tracey Baker was excited to be a part of the campaign to clean up downtown as her shop has been a mainstay for the last two years at 25 Dunlop Street East. Not only a member of the Downtown Barrie BIA, Baker is also very conscience of the environment and wants the city to be a leader in that concern. “This an environmental issue that maybe people don’t think about too often,” said Baker. “4.5 trillion butts are discarded annually on our planet and the majority of those end up in lakes and streams. One cigarette butt in one litre of water can kill one fish. That’s horrifying when you look at the numbers that are polluting the waters, and we are Barrie, we’re known for our beautiful bay.” The campaign was spearheaded by A Greener Future which is a Canadian environmentally-directed non-profit that creates events to help clean up the planet. The Butt Blitz is a nationwide event and Barrie’s leg starts May 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. where Baker has asked shop-owners and anyone in downtown to clean up the space around them and put the butts in plastic bags where they’ll be picked up near the end of the day. While the Blitz takes place Saturday, Baker reminds everyone they can start now and keep going always. “The Terracycle receptacles are up and will be emptied periodically from now till forever,” said Baker. “When they’re emptied they are sent to Terracycle where the butts are actually recycled into making shipping pallets. It’s a great way to not just keep the city clean but also the environment. We’ve already seen that it works as we have had three full bags already. Approximately 750 butts per bag multiply that by the 23 containers and we are really making a dent in the waste.” The city of Barrie purchased the 23 containers and the BIA installed them. Tom Ambreau is with the BIA and loves that the city has taken a course of action to help the environment. Ambreau also stresses the other obvious reason to clean up the butts as beautifying the city is important too. “The environmental concern is key here and we have to take care of our future,” said Ambreau. "But another factor is the mess. How many times do you walk downtown and see all the cigarette butts lying around and hate the mess? With our patio season coming, it will be nice to get the area totally ready for hanging out and enjoying our downtown.” People can head over to ZuZu’z today to pick up the items needed for Saturday’s But Blitz. For more information on the campaign, check the website. For more information on the Butt Blitz and where you can find the receptacles, check the Downtown Barrie BIA website.