On almost any busy street in Philadelphia, discarded cigarette butts line the road and sidewalk. It’s not just in the city. Studies show that cigarette butts are the most littered item in the United States and around the world. Last month, the Mayfair Community Development Corporation, with the help of an environmental grant, installed 10 cigarette receptacles in an attempt to cut down on the number of discarded butts along Frankford Avenue. Butts tossed into the containers will not only be kept off the street. They will be sent to a Trenton recycling plant, where the cigarette filters are turned into park benches, shipping pallets and other items. The small aluminum receptacles, manufactured by a company called Sidewalk Buttler, were strategically placed, according to Marc Collazzo, executive director of the Mayfair CDC and Business Improvement District. “We really wanted to revolve around our taverns and SEPTA bus stops because that would be the area people would be smoking and maybe more likely to just flick a cigarette butt,” Collazzo said. The idea is that smokers will properly dispose of cigarettes if they have a nearby opportunity. “Smokers generally don’t want to be litterers,” said Mike Roylos, founder of Sidewalk Buttler, which is based in Portland, Maine. A 2009 study by the environmental nonprofit Keep America Beautiful found that cigarette litter is decreased by 9 percent for each additional butt receptacle in a particular area. KAB’s study also found that a majority of people did not think flicking cigarette butts was littering, even though the filters are not biodegradable. “People smoke and that’s OK,” Collazzo said. “We just want to make sure that people are mindful of keeping our community safe and beautiful and healthy for everybody.” The CDC purchased the receptacles from Roylos’ company with a $1,200 grant from Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, KAB’s local affiliate. Other community groups, including the Fishtown Neighbors Association and the Olde Richmond Civic Association, have also received grants to install the receptacles. Each container can hold about 650 cigarette butts, according to Roylos, and Collazzo said the CDC will empty them on a weekly basis. The receptacles are locked and are not flammable. After being collected, the butts will be shipped to TerraCycle, a Trenton-based company that composts the tobacco and recycles the filters and paper. The filters, which are made of synthetic fiber, are cleaned and melted into hard plastic for use in a variety of products. “Once they’re in our little containers, they never see the light of day again,” Roylos said. Collazzo called the move to install the receptacles a “no-brainer” and said the CDC will be looking for grant opportunities to buy more for the neighborhood. “It’s a wonderful neighborhood tool,” he said. “I hope that… other areas in the Northeast and beyond will look to do this because it’s really a great thing.” Currently, the receptacles are located along Frankford Avenue at Princeton Avenue, Levick Street, Robbins Street and at several spots near Cottman Avenue. •• Jack Tomczuk can be reached at jtomczuk@newspapermediagroup.com  

    Hocking County has applied for cigarette butt dispensers through the Keep America Beautiful grant. It was noted that 45 dispensers will be placed, after application approval, around Logan, Laurelville and other locations in Hocking County.

By Kacie Goode Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 12:48 pm Cigarette butts litter the alley by 3rd Street Tap House, feet from one of six new cigarette receptacles that have been installed in downtown Bardstown. It’s an upsetting sight for those who care about community upkeep, which is why the people responsible for the new ashtrays hope more will make an effort to use them. “There are a lot of cigarette butts at the base of them; all around them,” said Jayme Haslam, a local resident and member of the design committee for the Bardstown Main Street Program, who pushed for the receptacles. The idea for the ashtrays came to her last year. When Haslam would walk through downtown, she would often run into Judge-Executive Dean Watts, and the two would commiserate about the trash and cigarette butts plaguing the ground of Third Street. “Cigarette butts downtown and all over are just horrible,” and have been for years, Watts said, with hundreds being collected around his Court Square office alone. “There is a choice between throwing them down on the ground and putting them somewhere to be disposed of properly.” Haslam wanted to find a way to help reduce the eyesore downtown and started looking at different companies that offered ashtrays. During a visit to Grand Rapids, Mich., she saw several small cigarette disposal cans attached to posts along sidewalks. She brought the idea to Watts, who agreed his office could pay for some receptacles to help keep downtown cleaner. After having the idea approved by other downtown officials, six ashtrays were installed. While Court Square and Third Street are in the city limits and Watts oversees the county, he said locations such as the Old Courthouse Building and the Sutherland Building off Stephen Foster are county-owned properties, and “Being part of downtown is important.” The six ashtrays are connected to lampposts near areas where people congregate the most, such as restaurants and bars, and where Haslam and Watts have seen the most trash. Locations include near 3rd Street Tap House, Café Primo, Alexander Bullitt’s Brewery and BBQ, JT’s Consignments on the second block of North Third, in front of Mammy’s Kitchen and one near the Fine Arts Bardstown Society building. The canisters have been up for about a month, Haslam said, but they are not being used as much as she would like to see and she hopes that will change. In addition to offering a place to dispose of cigarettes, Haslam is also working with a company called TerraCycle that allows her to send in the waste from the ashtrays to be recycled into compost and other materials. There is also a “doggie waste” bag dispenser that has been installed near the FABS building to encourage owners to clean up after their pets, which has been another problem affecting downtown upkeep.

(VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.) - Keep America Beautiful, the nation's iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, has awarded Keep Virginia Beach Beautiful their Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) Grant to combat cigarette litter at Little Island Park in Sandbridge.   The grant will be managed by Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation, who received a similar, regional CLPP grant in 2015 for Lake Lawson/Lake Smith Natural Area. The purpose of the project is to create awareness that cigarette butts are the number one littered item in the United States and around the globe, and encourage people to dispose of them in an appropriate receptacle.   As part of the program, Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation, the Virginia Beach Clean Community Commission (VBCCC), and staff from Public Works Waste Management conducted a scan of a small segment of the 144-acre municipal property and collected 510 cigarette butts and 9 cigar tips. Nine free-standing cigarette butt receptacles and signage were placed throughout the park with the goal of educating the public that cigarette butts are litter and to provide a way to properly dispose of them. The cigarette butts collected in the new receptacles will be shipped out to be recycled by a company called Terracycle.   95% of cigarette filters are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that does not quickly degrade and can persist in the environment, so the department is challenging the community to use appropriate receptacles to help keep our parks clean, green and beautiful! As part of the grant, Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation also has an inventory of both pocket and auto ashtrays available for free for those who are interested. To receive a portable ashtray, park visitors should see a staff member at the park office (must be at least 18-years old.) The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, created by Keep America Beautiful in 2002, is the nation's largest program aimed at eliminating cigarette litter. Since its inception, the program has been successfully implemented in more than 1,700 U.S. communities nationwide. Over the past 10 years, it has consistently cut cigarette butt litter by nearly 50 percent based on local community measurements taken in the first four to six months after program implementation. As communities continue to monitor the program, those reductions are sustained or even increased over time.   A follow-up scan will take place in September to determine if cigarette butt litter has decreased at Little Island. For questions about the cigarette litter prevention program, visit VBgov.com/nobutts. About Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation strives to promote healthy lifestyles and protect the City's coastal environment, as well as to ensure all residents - regardless of their physical, social and economic circumstances - can access Parks & Recreation programs. The department's vision is to be the national leader in providing enriching and memorable lifelong experiences. Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation is accredited by CAPRA, the certifying agency of the National Recreation and Park Association. For more information, visitVBgov.com/parks or call (757) 385-1100 (TTY: 757-711 Virginia Relay). Sign up for Parks & Rec email newsletters at VBgov.com/eNews. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/VBparksrec.  About Keep Virginia Beach Beautiful The Keep Virginia Beach Beautiful Commission is comprised of a member appointed Board of Commissioners representing all areas of the city. An affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Virginia Beautiful, this organization works in partnership with the City of Virginia Beach Public Works, the Virginia Beach Clean Community Commission, and local community groups. We implement programs for improvement and work together to encourage behavioral changes that result in a cleaner, greener Virginia Beach. For more information, visit www.vbgov.com/wastemgt.  

ASPINWALL, Pa. - Leaders in Aspinwall want people to recycle their cigarette butts. Cigarette recycling containers are expected to be installed in the borough by early September, according to Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE. The borough is working with Terracycle, a company that collects and repurposes hard-to-recycle waste, turning it into plastic pallets and other industrial items, TribLIVE reported. Tobacco is used for compost.  

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  According to TribLIVE, the program -- which is free to the borough -- was approved by council last month.

Here are a few ideas that should help point you in the right directions. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Please add suggestions on our Facebook page and let other locals know other easy ways to avoid filling the landfill faster... Waste collected through the Terracycle program turns cigarettes and their plastic package wrappers into plastic pallets and compost.