Simple solutions to prevent cigarette litter

Cigarette litter is easily solved by carrying a pocket ashtray which immediately extinguishes butts to prevent fires and wildfires. Shops can add advertising to pay for them. Buy from:

TakeTray (Switzerland) is a good brand. There are two types, made from recycled plastic or ocean-bound plastic. Either is good! Discounts are available on bulk orders. Now the market leader in Europe, a campaign in Spalding (Lincolnshire) resulted in over halved cigarette litter. This works!

In the Swiss town of Horgen, retailers (including Lidl and Spar) that sell cigarettes hand them out free of charge. What a great idea! Why are the same chains not doing this in England and elsewhere?

Features of TakeTray:

• Not too small or too large
• Odour-proof
• Safetly lock to stop unintentional opening
• One-hand operation
• Sits comfortably in pockets
• Can also be used as a table ashtray

Other good solutions are available in Denmark and USA.

Could you imagine if every supermarket, petrol station and newsagent sold these, as well as cigarettes? Our butt litter problem would disappear overnight. Instead of causing wildfires and falling down storm drains, and ending up in our seas and rivers.

Also read how to quit smoking.

Why don’t shops sell pocket ashtrays?

The charity Keep Britain Tidy was offering them on trial, why they stopped is unclear. The government stopped funding the charity, due to receiving funding from the tobacco industry.

One critic said that a government has stopped funding the collection of litter, shows just how out of touch it is, as this is one of the most important things in the average person’s quality of life.

Abroad, most supermarkets sell pocket ashtrays, but not in the UK. Some says it’s because at a few pounds for a one-off device, they don’t see enough profit compared to disposable snacks, vapes and lottery tickets.

If the big shops got on board, they could make a huge difference to reducing both cigarette litter and wildfires nationwide.

A pocket ashtray for beaches

Boodi beach ashtray is also good. This has a little hole in the bottom. You stub out your cigarette if smoking on or near the beach. Then cover the ashtray with sand to make sure the butt is safely extinguished.

Then the sand pours out the hole, and you keep the ashtray on your person, until you find a proper bin.

Ballot Bin (a fun way to reduce butt litter)

Ballot Bin sounds a bit daft, but it seems to work, massively reducing cigarette litter. People answer a fun question (like which footballer do you prefer) and deposit the butt in the one of their choice. Installed in all towns, these could reduce and prevent cigarette litter.

The butts can then be sent off in bulk to Terracycle to make other goods like industrial piping (cigarettes contain plastic).