Grant focuses on 'butts'

HURON -- "Cigarette butts are litter too" is the sentiment of Keep America Beautiful (KAB). They have offered grants to affiliates to promote public awareness on this nationwide problem. Erie County Solid Waste Management District was chosen as one of the limited number of affiliates to receive this grant.

The grant requires that:

* a target area be chosen,

* scans of the area be done before and for a six-month period thereafter, to gauge the sustainability of the project,

* a prevention team be formed,

* receptacles be placed in the target area,

* pocket ashtrays, which KAB provided, be distributed to smokers in the area, and

* public awareness be promoted.

In implementing the grant requirements, the Huron Boat Basin and Amphitheater was chosen as the target area due to its proximity to Lake Erie. Because of this, KAB also provided cup holder ashtrays for distribution to the boaters along the basin as a pilot project.

The prevention team consisted of the following members -- Randy Glovinski, Huron Police Chief; Jeanie Wertenbach, Erie County Health Department coordinator for a Smoke Free Work Place; Doug Steinwart, Huron Parks and Recreation Boat Basin manager; Sheila Erhardt, Huron Chamber of Commerce; Marion Ostheim, K96 Radio; Tina Sevenbergen, Erie County Solid Waste Management District, and It's 5 o'clock Somewhere.

Cigarette receptacles were purchased and placed in various locations around the basin. Cup holder ashtrays were distributed to 100 boaters. Erie County Solid Waste sponsored a K96 Boppin on the Basin in Huron. At this event, over 600 pocket ashtrays were distributed. An additional 200 pocket ashtrays were distributed by park and recreation staff members throughout the project duration.

Due to these efforts, we are proud to announce the results of the scans showed a decrease in cigarette litter in the target area of 83 percent. The numbers show that the implementation of the receptacles, distribution of pocket and cup ashtrays and public awareness helped combat the blight of cigarette litter.

Pocket ashtrays are available for interested parties at the Huron Parks and Recreation office, and at the Erie County Solid Waste Management District. Please contact Tina Sevenbergen at 419-433-7303, ext. 249 for additional information.

Cigarette filters facts:

Individuals, who are appalled at seeing beverage cans or fast food packaging along roadways, typically do not consider tossing their cigarette butts out the window or on the ground littering. With the passage of new ordinances that move smokers outdoors, and lack of proper ash receptacles, cigarette butts have become the top item collected during local cleanups.

Most people think filters are made from paper or cloth, and they will bio-degrade. That is not true. Cigarette filters contain cellulose acetate, a form of plastic. Plastic takes over 500 years to degrade.

With cigarette filters being some of the smallest pieces of litter, they are easily carried into storm sewers, travel through drainage systems, and in our area will eventually end up in Lake Erie. They accumulate in corners, gutters, outside doorways of businesses, and portray a lack of community pride to everyone who passes by.