• March 29, 2024

Smokers being enfranchised

 Smokers being enfranchised

A new type of ashtray is set to give smokers another opportunity to ‘vote’, according to a Blue and Green Tomorrow (University of Lincoln, UK) story.

The Ballot Bin is a bespoke ashtray that aims to tackle the issue of cigarette butt litter by encouraging smokers to place their used filters into one of two slots according to how they want to respond to a question posed on the receptacle.

Each side of the receptacle has a window to display the used butts, allowing a public opinion poll to be generated.

The bins and questions asked are customisable; so, for instance, the questions can be tailored to the interests of local people.

Cities around the world are said to be intending to ask topical questions to engage local smokers: ‘Who will be the next US President – Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump?’

Littering is said to cost the UK tax-payer as much as £850 million each year, and a report from the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee found that chewing gum and cigarettes were the most littered items.

The bins first appeared in the Neat Street campaign run by the environmental charity Hubbub, which is said to be launching a website www.ballotbins.co.uk where ballot bins are being made available for sale.

None of the collected cigarette butts will go to landfill. As part of the campaign, Hubbub is developing a partnership with TerraCycle, which recycles cigarette butts into a variety of plastic products: http://www.terracycle.co.uk/en-UK/brigades/cigarette-waste-brigade.