Ashtray initiative offers smokers place for butts on beach

Except tar and jellyfish, cigarette butts seem to be the biggest nuisance on the beach. They don't stick to you and won't sting you, but they surround bathers significantly tainting their beach-going experience. Try remembering the last time you put your foot into the soft sand and didn't find a burnt, squished cigarette but with lipstick stains on it. Tel Aviv's beaches will be the target of an initiative this beach season to remedy the situation. Starting Thursday, blue cones will be offered on public stands. The non-profit organization, "A Country without Cigarette Litter," recruited the city of Tel Aviv-Jaffa to place blue, cone-shaped ashtrays at the entrance to the city's beaches. Go ahead and smoke, just don't litter (Photo: Inbal Tanenbaum) Three beaches were chosen for a pilot program. If successful, the move will be implemented on the rest of the city's beaches. In the meantime, you will be able to find the blue cones on Metzitzim Beach, Hilton Beach, and Tzuk Beach. Each one of these beaches will be outfitted with stands holding 50 blue cones each. Bathers are invited to take a cone with them to use while they are sitting on the beach, and empty it in the garbage and return it when they leave. "We took the idea for placing the stands from similar activity in Spain. We believe that the idea will be well-liked in Israel as well, and, even more importantly, will reduce the cigarette-butt litter on the beaches," explained Yair Wolovitch, one of the organization's founders. According to him, cigarette butts are the number one component of litter on the world's streets and beaches. It is estimated that in Israel alone some six million cigarette butts are littered every year. Not only are they unappealing to the eye, but they are bad for people's health and the environment. Cigarette butts are made of cellulose, which takes about 15 years to decompose. "The purpose of our activities is to raise awareness among the Israeli public, reduce cigarette butt litter, and increase personal responsibility. Cigarette butts cause a lot of damage. For instance, they could be swallowed by children or animals, cause fires, pollute water sources, and incur direct (from cleaning services) and indirect (from tourism) economic losses," explained Wolovitch. The organization makes it clear that they are not an anti-smoking organization, but are in favor of maintaining a healthy and clean environment. "In interviews we conducted, smokers claimed they would stop throwing cigarette butts on the ground if they found ashtrays nearby. Therefore, there is great importance to the availability of ashtrays accessible to the smoking public," he explained. He and his friends are convinced that raising awareness about the damage of littering cigarette butts will directly impact the number of cigarette butts they encounter on the ground. It should be noted that the court ordered a driver to pay a fine of NIS 2,000 (about $540) for throwing a cigarette butt out of his car window while driving. The driver chose to go to court instead of paying the original NIS 250 (about $68) ticket issued him by a sanitation inspector. "Tel Aviv Municipality is undertaking a move that is the first of its kind and will be an example and inspiration for the rest of the municipalities in Israel," said Avi Licht, director of the municipal beach department.