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Council 'wastes' hundreds of pounds prosecuting smoker who dropped cigarette end in gutter 

A council has been accused of wasting hundreds of pounds of taxpayers’ money by prosecuting a smoker who threw a cigarette butt in a street gutter.

John Meakin was ordered by magistrates to pay a £75 littering fine, plus an additional £15, after he had initially refused to cough up the cash when a warden handed him a ticket last year.

But the local authority failed in its bid to force the 55-year-old university technician to pay its £580 court costs.

Yet the council defended its policy, saying fining litter-droppers and enforcing those tickets discourages others

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LETTER 

Let's talk about a deposit for cigarette butts. Is it plausible? Should it be financially punitive to smokers to encourage them not to throw them away? Would it be financially attractive to people to pick them up, like we did with soda bottles? Well, the idea of two cents per cigarette butt is probably too cheap.

I think we need to charge 25 cents per butt.

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UNC issues warnings for on-campus smoking  

University of North Carolina public safety officers began issuing warnings Tuesday to people smoking near campus buildings.

Smoking has been prohibited within 100 feet of any university building since January to limit exposure to secondhand smoke. UNC officials have worked to educate people about the policy in recent months and to provide smoking cessation resources to students, faculty and staff.

Chancellor Holden Thorp said officials "are increasingly receiving reports of smokers who refuse to move the required 100 feet away from university facilities and who litter the ground with their cigarette butts."

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LETTER: No excuses for cigarette tossers 

I have often wondered how bush fires start. Apart from lightning, most instances of bush fires are caused by human activities. Like many motorists, I have received on numerous occasions on my car's bumper and hood the lighted cigarette butt tossed out by the driver in front of me. I have raged, sounded my horn and prayed that a cruising police officer would catch such an unconscious and criminal act. Alas!

I think such acts should be severely punished. In addition, there should be a public campaign to sensitize drivers and motorists

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Butts pile up as smokers kicked out 

The clean air inside bars and restaurants is leading to dirtier areas outside some of them.

The mess is a byproduct of a new state law that took effect July 1 that prohibits smoking in most enclosed public places. With bar and restaurant patrons now forced to light up outside, cigarette butts are piling up on entryways and sidewalks across the state.

"It's a pretty amazing amount," said Kacy Smith, owner of Tic Toc restaurant/bar in Cedar Rapids.

He said the number of cigarette butts that don't make it into the receptacle outside has gone from about 20 per night to 120 since July 1.

The Smoke-free Air Act was approved last spring to much controversy. Opponents are still voicing their displeasure.

Among other complaints, some restaurant and bar owners have argued that smoking should be allowed on outdoor patios.

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Butts piling up since smoking ban 

Business owners say the statewide ban on smoking inside is creating a mess outside.

They say the number of cigarette butts tossed on the ground outside of their doors has increased dramatically since the smoking ban went into effect on July 1.

The ban was approved last spring and opponents are still voicing their displeasure, including their argument that smoking should be allowed on outside patios. Businesses that don't prepare food can allow that, but many bars serve at least some food, forcing smokers to go outdoors to light up.

Kacy Smith, the owner of Tic Toc restaurant and bar in Cedar Rapids, says the number of cigarette butts that miss the ashtray outside her business has risen from about 20 per night to about 120 per night.

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Cigarette litter prevention program continues 

If you have been on the Fayetteville square lately, you have probably noticed the signs in the landscaping reading, "Cigarette Butts are Litter and Litter is Against the Law". These were put up just before the placement of 12 new cigarette ash receptacles around the square.

The receptacles were purchased by Keep Fayetteville-Lincoln County Beautiful, Inc., through a grant from Keep America Beautiful and the Phillip Morris Corp. The grant was made available to help combat the cigarette litter problem nationwide.

And, if you have been in one of the business around the square, you may have seen the baskets of pocket ashtrays that are being given away to area smokers.

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EDITORIAL: Time to end an unsightly practice  

THE City of Greater Bendigo has chipped in and funded several new cigarette butt disposal bins for locations throughout the CBD to try and help reduce litter.

The city, together with organisations including Department of Human Services, Bendigo Bank, Centrelink, Bendigo Health and the new Australian Technical College, sees the new bins as part of a "proactive campaign to combat cigarette butt litter". . . .

Cigarette butts are said to be the most common form of pollution entering our waterways. Surely by now we all know that these same waterways are far too precious to be treated as an environmental dump.

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More cigarette butts found on north coast beaches 

Keep Australia Beautiful says litter volumes are down across New South Wales, but they are finding more cigarette butts on north coast beaches.

The organisation spokesman, Peter Maclean, says small litter and butts make up more than half of individual litter items.

He says all levels of government and the community need to work together on the problem.

Mr Maclean says anyone tossing away a cigarette faces prosecution but that does not seem to stop people doing it.

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Barnstable, MA considers smoking ban on beaches 

The town of Barnstable, Massachusetts is considering a plan that would make its beaches smoke-free.

The town's recreation commission has submitted a proposal to the town manager to ban smoking at all 16 beaches.

Town officials say they've gotten many complaints from residents who are finding a large number of cigarette butts in the sand.

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• Anti-littering group takes tobacco cash  

An anti-litter group is being bankrolled by a $300,000 donation from British American Tobacco.

Not-for-profit environmental organisation Keep New Zealand Beautiful has signed a three-year deal with the cigarette company and has received smaller payments since 2005.

A company official also sits on Keep New Zealand Beautiful's board as an industry representative, though the board chairman insists there are no strings attached.

In its latest social report, the multinational company says the money will help minimise the impact of pollution by cigarette butts, in line with its environmentally-focused business activities.

But anti-smoking groups have labelled the deal an attempt to legitimise the actions of a corporate monster whose products help kill 5000 New Zealanders each year.

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EDITORIAL: Make litterers pay for damage 

There's no misunderstanding about littering: it's wrong and every reasonable Canadian knows it. But too many do it anyway. What's missing is enforcement. It's fine to litter, but catching and prosecuting someone for throwing a coffee cup out a window is next to impossible. But what else could be as effective?

However much our collective awareness has increased, the fact that sponsored cleanups are necessary is a lesson in civility. Every day, drivers face a choice on our highways. Too many of them make the wrong one. They should pay for that, and then the rest of us wouldn't have to.

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Cigarette butts a real bummer for waterfront  

Cigarette butts are the top pollutant along Canadian waterfronts, including Barrie's, despite what people might think.

New data from a TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup survey says cigarette butts are the biggest culprit. . . .

"Cigarette butts are the bigger littering problem," Boyd said. "Unfortunately, there are still a few people who don't consider throwing their cigarette butts on the ground littering. It's scary to think that and it's gross.

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BAKER: Campaign takes aim at cigarette butts 

I pulled into my driveway the other day and spotted a renegade cigarette butt.

There are no smokers in my family, so where did it come from? Probably carried by the wind, the rain or the dog.

It reminded me of Keep Covington Beautiful's latest anti-litter attempt, which is focused on cleaning up cigarettes.

"They're everywhere," said Priscilla Floca, executive director of Keep Covington Beautiful.

Indeed, they seem to be. I was behind a car on Boston Street waiting for the light to turn green when I saw a cigarette butt fly out of the window and land on the street. .. .

The grant money will be used to buy cigarette ash receptacles and put them where it is determined they are needed most.

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Your cigarette butt could have caused this 

The bad news was that the number of fires has gone up since last year.

And in some of the categories that saw an increase in the number of fires, smokers had left their fingerprints behind.

Or more precisely, their lighted cigarette butts. For example, there were 1,097 rubbish fires during the first six months of this year - 102 more than in the same period last year.

A common cause?

Lighted cigarette butts from ashtrays, thrown down chutes, said the SCDF.

These included fires in rubbish chutes and rubbish bins, and involved discarded items.

The SCDF said rubbish fires can be prevented if lighted cigarettes and other burning materials are completely extinguished before

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