By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Lynn Marie Johnston’s bubbly good spirits won as much approval from Cobourg council this week as did the point she was making – that something needs to be done about smokers who dispose of their used butts by pitching them to the ground.
It’s the most littered garbage in the world, Johnston said. And it’s a major toxic problem – because they are cellulose and acetate, which essentially add up to plastic, they are not biodegradable.
“Cigarette butts contaminate 50 litres of water. In 98 hours, half the fish will die because of the toxins,” she said.
“It really bothers me when I walk the beaches. I try to clean up as much as I can – I must be known as the butt girl, I think,” she said.
“Smokers don’t care. We’ve got to figure out a way to get the smokers to care. We have to change the bylaws so that smokers feel they have a designated area they can smoke and have an ashtray and someplace to go to be with their buddies outside.”
Johnston had seen for herself how expensive tickets for dropping butts on the ground in California made a noticeable difference. She was disappointed to talk to Cobourg’s bylaw enforcement officers, who told her there wasn’t much they could do if they didn’t actually see someone drop the butt.
“It has become socially acceptable for people to throw their cigarette butts on the ground. Well, it’s not socially acceptable. We have got to have more people talk about it and speak out.”
Johnston also suggests the town investigate a company called Terra Cycle, which provides bins to collect the butts and pays for them to be shipped back to the company, where they become recycled plastic to be used in such items as outdoor benches and pool liners.
She also suggests bigger no-smoking signs, and maybe having smoking ambassadors who will talk to visitors to the beaches and parks who are smoking to convey a friendly message.
Or maybe get kids to make an art project out of signage that says things like, “Please stop hurting our water supply and take care of your stinky butts.”
“Something funny, because I believe with all my heart you get more done when you are kind and you are working together,” Johnston suggested.
“We’ve got to figure something out where we touch their hearts some way. We have to raise awareness. I’m not afraid to speak to people, but I think we need to use humour and we need to use kindness.”
A couple of councillors commended Johnston for airing a pet peeve they have had themselves.
“It’s a nasty habit, throwing them on the ground, and they don’t think twice,” Councillor Brian Darling remarked.
“Let’s do something about this,” Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin urged.
“I am going to do some research on Terra Cycle and look into what we can do to make it a cleaner place.”
Councillor Aaron Burchat recalled the time he and his family participated in a butt pick-up on the beach.
“Because they are so little, it’s so time-consuming,” Burchat found.
“It’s astonishing how many you do find – the kids were shocked.”
Councillor Nicole Beatty urged a communications strategy be part of whatever measures were taken.
“We could look to see what messages we could communicate out to the public on this matter, as well as looking at our signage to see if there can be enhancements,” Chief Administrative Officer Tracey Vaughan agreed.
Councillor Emily Chorley’s motion called for Johnston’s presentation to be referred to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, as well as to the communications department with the request to enhance public awareness of existing rules and regulations regarding smoking in public parks, parking lots and along the waterfront regarding the proper disposal of cigarette butts.
