Every year, the single most littered item in Texas is something that you might not ever think it would be: Cigarette Litter.
Cigarette Litter is a continuing problem in Texas and Keep Lewisville Beautiful would like to address that problem. At our office you can find literature about this growing problem along our streets and highways, as well as grab some disposable pocket ashtrays for you, your friends, your car, and/or your business. You can also pledge to not throw cigarette butts on the ground as part of our prevention program.
As part of Keep America Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP), Keep Lewisville Beautiful also conducts regular cigarette litter scans in various parts of the city. If you would like to participate in these scans or learn more about the growing cigarette butt problem in our city, please contact the KLB office. We are always looking for volunteers to help with this growing need.
In an effort to curb cigarette litter locally, KLB has installed several signs across the city to remind motorists not to throw their butts out of the car. KLB also partners with the City of Lewisville and Keep America Beautiful to purchase and install butt disposal containers our across the city.
Thanks to generous grants by KAB, You can find Keep Lewisville Beautiful ash receptacles at:
Toyota of Lewisville Railroad Park (Soccer, Football, and Baseball Concessions)
Toyota of Lewisville Skate Park
Toyota of Lewisville Dog Parks
Memorial Park Rec Center
Lewisville Public Library
Lewisville Police Station
Lewisville Civic Circle Rec Center
College Street Pool
Sun Valley Pool
Lake Park
Lake Park RV Park
Old Town Lewisville
Wayne Ferguson Plaza
Keep Lewisville Beautiful also helps educate motorists and the community by installing CLPP signs on medians around town.
The Problem & Facts:
In the past decade, cigarette smoking in America has decreased 28%, yet cigarette butts remain the most littered item in the U.S. and across the globe. Dropping cigarette butts and cigar tips to the ground, putting them in planters, and disposing of them in waterways is littering.
The overall littering rate for cigarette butts is 65%, and tobacco products comprise 38% of all U.S. roadway litter.
Cigarette butt littering is often associated with the physical environment (38%), i.e. for every additional ash receptacle, the littering rate for cigarette butts decreases by 9%. Cigarette butt littering is also attributable to individual motivations; for example, 77% of individuals in a survey stated they did not consider cigarette butts as litter.
Though cigarette butts may be small, when they are carelessly dropped to the ground instead of properly disposed of, their litter has a big effect.
When smokers litter their cigarette butts:
- Community quality of life suffers and can result in a decline in a city’s foot traffic, tourism, business development, and the value of housing. In fact, the presence of litter in a community decreases property values by a little over 7%.
- The appeal of public spaces, such as beaches and waterfronts, ball fields and parks, and picnic areas and hiking trails decreases.
- Fire hazards that impacts local wildlife and eventually contributes to lost economic development opportunities can occur.
More Information on Cigarette Litter from Keep America Beautiful: