By Cecilia Nasmith
The Town of Cobourg's Environmental Services Department invites residents to help protect the environment at Saturday's Cobourg Community Cigarette Butt Clean-Up from 10 a.m. to noon.
If you can help, start at the Marina administration office (103 Third St.) to pick up collection supplies – gloves, buckets and pickers, though those with garbage pickers of their own are encouraged to use them.
Participants will also receive a map of areas to cover around the downtown and waterfront. Afterwards, they will bring their materials to the Cobourg Harbour parking lot (103 Third St.) where a waste bin will be located. All materials collected will be recycled through the TerraCycle UNSMOKE cigarette-recycling program, which recycles these otherwise-unrecyclable products into usable items.
Due to the nature of the material collected, this event is recommended for those aged 19 and older.
On future community clean-ups, the town hopes to partner with A Greener Future, through whose efforts community volunteers have helped to collect more than four-million pieces of litter. For this initial community clean-up on Nov. 5, the town hopes to collect as many cigarette butts as possible before winter, when the run-off of melted snow creates additional opportunities for dangerous chemicals to enter the water system.
The press release noted that cigarette butts are the most-littered item in the world.
“About two-thirds of the six-trillion cigarettes smoked each year end up in the environment,” it said.
Cigarette butts contain a plastic filter plus whatever remains of the unsmoked cigarette. The filters, which resemble white cotton, are cellulose acetate, which breaks down into microplastic fibres. This material is difficult to degrade in the environment and, depending on where the butt is discarded, mady take 18 months to 10 years to break down as it does not decompose naturally.
When these butts end up in water, they release nicotine, arsenic, tar and even heavy metals. One littered cigarette can contaminate 1,000 litres of water.
Unfortunately, due to their size, butts are often missed during public clean-up events and municipal staff efforts. Many end up buried in sand and leaves, or wedged into cracks in the pavement.
The town recognizes the hard work of community volunteers who are committed to protecting their natural environment. Since 2014, A Greener Future is committed to providing opportunities that bring these volunteers together and inspire action to create a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and the town hopes to explore a partnership in 2023.
