Cigarette butts have no place on the floor.
(Photo: Photo2000/Imago)
A discarded cigarette butt can poison large amounts of groundwater. It contains a veritable poisonous cocktail of arsenic, lead, chromium, cadmium, benzene, nitrosamines and tar. The substances can get into the groundwater and cause damage to people and the environment. In Unterschleißheim, volunteers have teamed up to tackle the problem. The “Butt Collecting Project Group” wants to ensure that so-called cigarette butt cans are attached to as many places in the city as possible, including garden fences. This should initially be done as a test for a few weeks or months. Behind the action is a group of people from Unterschleißheim who no longer simply want to accept that there is so much rubbish lying around in public spaces.
The group is called “Cleanup Unterschleißheim” and is linked to the Agenda 21 group. According to a statement, the citizens involved there have been collecting rubbish from sidewalks, streets and green spaces in Unterschleißheim and the surrounding area since July 2021. In view of the sometimes large amounts of cigarette butts on meadows and paths, the group now wants to try something new: With the help of homemade cans, the members want to find out whether the toxic waste can at least be reduced somewhat.
If you want to attach a box to your property, for example on a fence facing the street, you can send an email to [email protected]. Information is also accepted there as to where doses would be useful or necessary. The volunteers take care of everything else. Activists are also collecting cigarette butts in other cities. There is an association in Nuremberg, and the Greens have founded a group in Munich-Laim.