Over 15,000 cigarette butts collected in two hours



A cigarette butt takes more than 15 years to completely degrade. – ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

In recent months, spontaneous actions to clean the city of Lyon of their waste and thus protect the environment have multiplied in Lyon. Several associations or groups of volunteers set out to recover the bulky items thrown carelessly in the two rivers of the city or near the nautical dock of the Confluence.

For others, it is patiently picking up cigarette butts thrown out of ashtrays or bins provided for this purpose. This is the case of the group
Ecolo Lyon Weekly, who walked the streets of the 6th arrondissement of Lyon on Saturday.

A single cigarette butt pollutes 500 liters of water

23 volunteers, divided into three groups, went to Place Maréchal Lyautey, Place de l’Europe, Cours Lafayette, Rue Pierre Corneille but also on Quai Sarrail and the Quinet playground. Assessment of the operation: 19,500 cigarette butts collected in 2 hours. “This protects 9.8 million liters of water,” say the volunteers knowing that a single butt, “the first waste of cities” pollutes 500 liters of water alone.

“137,000 cigarette butts are thrown to the ground every second in the world, argues the community on its website. A single butt left for 4 days in a liter of water kills half of the small fish present in that same liter ”. Also according to the association, 70% of birds and 30% of turtles are infected with chemicals from cigarette butts.



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