"NO BUTTS ON THE BEACH" SAY SURFERS

With today being ‘National No Smoking Day’ surfers are hoping to see at least one day of the year when cigarette butts don't get dropped on UK beaches.

But come tomorrow it is likely that the UK’s beaches will again be treated as a giant ashtray for the unaware to stub out their cigarette butts. As a result of the continuing rise in beach cigarette litter, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are calling on local authorities to support our No Butts on the Beach campaign, which is co-sponsored by board-riding company O’Neill and the No Butts Bin Company.

This morning SAS were on Porthtowan beach to place giant cigarettes all along the sand. The words ‘No Butts on the Beach’ ran across the white of the cigarette. Pocket ashtrays were also distributed to beach users by SAS campaigners.

Did You Know:

• Cigarette Butts are the most littered item in the world.
• Cigarette Butts are one of the most commonly found litter items on beaches around the UK.
• Cigarette Butts are not biodegradable.
• 95% of all cigarette butts (filters) are made of cellulose acetate (a plastic).

SAS have today asked local authorities to make a ‘No Butts On the Beach’ pledge. For this they must ensure bathing beaches in their district have dedicated static butt bins with accompanying signage at beach entry/exit points so the public can use them to dispose of their butts responsibly.

Andy Cummins, SAS Campaigner says; “Chemicals in cigarette butts left on a beach can and do leak out causing pollution of the water. They can also end up in the stomachs of fish, birds, whales and other marine creatures, which mistake them for food and then die from suffocation, starvation or poisoning. Local authorities can play their part by supporting the No Butts on the Beach campaign”.

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