Volunteers are coming together to clean up the streets in the Butt Blitz. This is the first year Vernon will be participating in the Canada wide initiative to clean up communities and raise awareness about the impact of cigarette butts. “They pollute our environment, contaminate water and soil, poison wildlife and children and start a large number of wildfires. All of these things cost millions of taxpayer dollars to mitigate,” said Jack Elliman, a local organizer. The event starts in the park next to the Greyhound depot at 10 a.m. and end at 4:20 p.m. at the skateboard park at Polson Park. “As we move along we will be counting the butts we collect and announcing the grand gross total at the end of the day,” said Elliman. “All of the collected butts will then be sent to Terracycle for recycling and redeemed for Terracycle points. The more butts we collect the more money we earn for charity.” The event is organized by A Greener Future in partnership with www.BrainGarden.ca