A group of 600 people – including schoolchildren, teachers and volunteers – collected more than 87,000 cigarette butts in just one hour from the streets of Aveiro.
Organised by the BioLiving association, the initiative served to highlight the number of fag-ends discarded by people (estimates are that 7000 are dropped per minute in Portugal).
PAN (People Animals Nature party) is now pushing for awareness campaigns, street ashtrays and sanctions.
But for anyone wondering what is to be done with all those horrible butts, they are destined for recycling, says SOL – giving no indication what they will be transformed into.
A quick internet search shows Aveiro’s problem is nothing compared to the 4.5 trillion butts tossed into streets around the world every year. Winning ‘recycling ideas’ include turning them into park benches and pallets …(click here).
