Addressing Butt Litter at Different Locations
The legislative reforms banning smoking in enclosed places have pushed smokers outside to smoke, often with no facilities or education to manage cigarette butt litter.
Consequently, there has been a major increase in cigarette butt litter in outdoor settings. Many local councils have introduced conditions such as requiring businesses to provide windproof ashtrays for outdoor dining or local laws specifying the provision of a butt litter receptacle.
While cigarette butt littering projects do contain the same fundamental elements, the education tools used can differ according to the location and context. This section provides practical suggestions for running a project to address butt litter in the following situations:
- Designated Smoking Areas
- Butt litter outside office buildings and workplaces
- Running a staff education campaign for your workplace
- Educating business owners, staff and shoppers in shopping strips
- Educating staff and patrons in pubs, clubs, restaurants and licensed premises.
Common to all of these situations is the 'designated outdoor smoking area' as smoking, as of July 2007, is banned in all indoor areas. In addition to a tailored education program, ideas for which are supplied further on, the following fact sheet provides information on how to manage litter in designated smoking outdoor areas.
Some points to consider if you are creating a designated smoking area from scratch:
- Find a space that will be comfortable to smokers and conveniently located. There is little use is providing an area that is aesthetically unappealing to too far away as it will not be used
- Make sure this area will not interfere with the building air-conditioning
- You may like to install seating or shade to make the area appealing
- Install appropriate signage
- Ensure staff know about the new area through staff bulletins and other communications mechanisms E ncourage the use of this area by rewarding those who use it appropriately.
Download the 'Managing Butt Litter in Designated Outdoor Smoking Areas' Fact Sheet (193KB)
