What is the Situation with Cigarette Related Litter ... - Keep Britain Tidy

More documents

Recommendations

Info

5.3.1 Attitudes and knowledgeENCAMS have undertaken litter segmentation research, in order to understand thecommunity’s attitude about littering and drivers behind littering behaviour 42 .Some aspects of ENCAMS’ research demonstrated the attitudes or beliefs of smokers inrelation to the practice of smoking and littering. The trends from this research are:• Littering cigarette butts is a social norm – smokers do not expect retribution fromeither smokers or non-smokers 43 . This is supported by research which showedthat 82% of people in Ireland would do nothing if they saw a smoker ‘dump acigarette butt’ 44 . In a survey conducted in England, 67% of people had neverpointed out to a smoker that they have dropped a cigarette butt 45 .• Cigarette butts are not considered to be litter items – many smokers stated thatthey treat cigarette butts differently to other types of litter. While admitting thatthey would litter a cigarette butt, they would never drop other types of litter.Some smokers claim that cigarette butts are not as bad as other types of litter,such as chewing gum. Women tend to feel guiltier about littering cigarette buttsthan men. Cigarette butts are considered to be different because of theirphysical characteristics (they are small, believed to disperse easily and arebelieved to be biodegradable). However, it is acknowledged that cigarettebutts are unsightly when en masse.• The need for immediate disposal – Smokers feel that once consumed, cigarettebutts need to be disposed of immediately because of their uniquecharacteristics i.e, they are perceived to be a fire hazard, smelly and dirty. Theproblems associated with disposal mean that smokers are reluctant to carrycigarette butts around with them.• Concern about contributing to a fire – Smokers are very conscious of the fire riskposed by a lit cigarette. This can lead to littering as most smokers prefer tostamp out the butt on the ground to ensure that they are extinguished 46 .• Some smokers feel guilty about littering butts – most smokers admitted toglancing around to ensure no-one was looking before throwing their cigarettebutts on the ground 47 , suggesting that they are aware that this is inappropriatebehaviour.The research also featured drivers behind general littering which include:• Laziness of litterers;• Infrequent emptying of bins; and• Lack of education.42 ENCAMS (Sept 2005) Cigarette related litter, Stage 2 Debrief43 ENCAMS (Sept 2005) Cigarette related litter, Stage 2 Debrief44 ENCAMS (2005) Cig ban tipped to spark litter crisis. http://www.encams.org/home/newsdetail.asp45 ENCAMS (Sept 2005) Cigarette related litter, Stage 2 Debrief46 ibid47 ibidSituation Report - Final 12
5.3.2 Smokers contextSome smokers, mostly older women, claim to never litter cigarette butts 48 . However formost smokers, the context / location they are in influences the way in which a cigarettebutt is disposed.• Draining it - If walking on the street, many smokers will aim their littered buttstoward the drain, as they feel that this is more responsible than dumping buttson the ground 49 .• In a vehicle - many people feel it is impossible to be ‘found out’ in this context 50 ,and are therefore more likely to litter. Furthermore, most smokers said that theythrew cigarette butts out of the window because it was safer and because ofthe offensive smell of a full ashtray in the confined space of a car 51 .• Dirt = dirt - If a place is seen as ‘respectable’ or tidy, then smokers are less likelyto litter there 52 .• Availability and suitability of infrastructure – smokers admitted that if an ashtraywas readily available they would use it, but they would not go far to seek oneout 53 . Research from Australia suggests that smokers will not walk to outdoorashtrays that are more than 12m away 54 . Furthermore, smokers preferreddedicated ashtrays with a good design that enabled smokers’ hands to remainclean 55 .• Bars/clubs – cigarette litter is accepted in this environment 56 .5.4 What is the impact of CRL?Cigarette related litter has environmental, economic and social impacts.5.4.1 Environmental impactsCigarette litter persists in the environment, harming animals, impacting water quality andposing a fire risk.5.4.1.1 Water qualityCigarette butts are easily carried into watercourses after being discharged throughstormwater systems, because they are small and lightweight.When in water, chemicals the cigarette butt was designed to trap can leach out 57 . Thetoxicity of cigarette butts on aquatic ecosystems has been tested in the US and Australia48 ENCAMS (Sept 2005) Cigarette related litter, Stage 2 Debrief49 ibid50 ENCAMS, (2001) Litter Segmentation Study Knowledge Bank51 ENCAMS (Sept 2005) Cigarette related litter, Stage 2 Debrief52 ENCAMS (2001), Litter Segmentation Study, Knowledge Bank53 ENCAMS (Sept 2005) Cigarette related litter, Stage 2 Debrief54 BIEC & Community Change Pty Ltd, (2001), Littering Behaviour Study III, Measuring environmentally desirablechange in Australia. BIEC, Sydney.55 ENCAMS (Sept 2005) Cigarette related litter, Stage 2 Debrief56 ibid57 Ager, O (Sept 2005) Marine and Coastal Litter The Marine Biological Association of the United KingdomSituation Report - Final 13
Page 2 and 3: Table of Contents1 Foreward .......
Page 7 and 8: 3 IntroductionCigarette-related lit
Page 9 and 10: 4.1.3 CigarsA cigar is a roll of dr
Page 11 and 12: • Bars/clubs/restaurants - when d
Page 13: Finally, during the Marine Conserva
Page 17 and 18: The negative impact of litter on an
Page 19 and 20: 5.4.3.2 Social disamenitySmokers ag
Page 21 and 22: 5.5.7 Comments about cigarette litt
Page 23 and 24: • Appeal to reason and considerat
Page 25 and 26: ButtsOut: ButtsOut are suppliers of
Page 27 and 28: uneven (eg cobbled) streets in Irel
Page 29 and 30: a. Design - including volume, allow
Page 31 and 32: 6.3 LegislationLegislation that inf
Page 33 and 34: 6.4 International Management Models
Page 35 and 36: 7 Conclusion and RecommendationsCig
Page 37 and 38: Situation Report - Final 35

What is the Situation with Cigarette Related Litter ... - Keep Britain Tidy

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?