A new (kind of) culprit in town!

Anyone notice more and more of these gnarly cigarette filters littering our great outdoors?

We do!

And it's quite sad, disgusting, and takes cigarette filters to a whole other level!

The volume and weight of one of these PLASTIC filters has got to have the equivalent of a bottled water cap or 50+ standard plastic fibrous filters we all know all too well.

I tried to get a comment from Middleton who manufactures them (An Altria/Philip Morris Co.) but they unsurprisingly declined! They too have absolutely no program in place to address this litter.

As if I wasn't already extremely disturbed with the irresponsibility of smokers who litter, this litter probably won't ever break down/biodegrade.

The photo shows how many of these NEW filters were part of a 4,875 batch of butts that Sophia & Alyson hand collected from the Mission Beach area.

Like all nonprofits, we need your "time" or "money" (or both).

Awesome Surf's Up Challenge: http://www.ripplelife.org/surfsup.php

Saturday Sept 24th volunteering: http://www.ripplelife.org/butts/

Create a Ripple (it's free) which can support Surfrider: http://www.ripplelife.org/curtis

Join our social networks.

Cheers,

Curtis

www.RippleLife.org

Bye Bye Butts

Bye Bye Butts - Surf's Up Challenge!

We've got a cool idea on how to spread awareness of how abundant cigarette butt litter is. We need your help to collect 150,000 littered cigarette butts! To make this a sweet deal, a brand new custom surfboard built just for you is up for grabs!

Like the idea? Lots of spots still open!

More info HERE

HOTYB Awareness Day

Hold On To Your Butt Awareness Day coming August 13 - Get Ready! More info to come in the next month!

Moonlight Beach cleanup more butts collected!

On June 18th, volunteers picked up 228 butts at Moonlight Beach. Thank you clean up crew:)

Hotline calls for May 2011

In May 2011, 174 calls were reported on the HOTYB hotline. Thank you callers for your ongoing reports!

Moonlight Beach cleanup more butts collected!

On May 21, 2011 volunteers cleaned up 288 butts at Moonlight Beach. Many thanks to the volunteers for keeping our beautiful beaches clean!

Pacific Beach Cleanup

We had a special beach cleanup on Friday, May 6, and 1075 butts were collected in PB. Thank you volunteers!

April calls on the hotline

Thanks to the concerned citizens for calling into the HOTYB hotline in April 2011. We had 213 calls about this ongoing issue!

smoking banned in NYC parks

interesting article re banning smoking in NYC parks - http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/opinion/06siegel.html

the author says that the ban was put in place because of 2nd hand smoke, not litter...although we all know that the litter is as if not more serious (and less controversial!)

Mission Bay butts collected

Thanks to the volunteers on 4/30/11 for cleaning up 3,960 cigarette butts at Mission Beach! And to the clean up coordinators for counting this data.

Moonlight Beach cleanup more butts collected!

On Sat, 4/16/11, the beach cleanup volunteers collected 340 butts at Moonlight Beach. Thanks to the folks that continue to help keep our beaches clean!

Butt Really?

Check out Legacy Foundation's catchy (tune and message) - http://www.legacyforhealth.org/4307.aspx regarding cig butt litter. You'll be singing along and noticing those butt litterers in no time!

CHP Enforcing Cig Butt Litterers!

We recently received some statistics from CHP for the enforcement of Vehicle Code 23111 which states...

"No person in any vehicle and no pedestrian shall throw or discharge from or upon any road or highway or adjoining area, public or private, any lighted or nonlighted cigarette, cigar, match, or any flaming or glowing substance."

In San Diego County in 2010, 320 people were cited for this offense by CHP. In 2009, 357 people were cited.

We all know there are a lot more people out there committing this offense. Please continue to use the hotline (877-211-2888) and let us know if you'd like to get more involved.

8 New Ashcans Installed in Pacific Beach!!!

Eight new ashcans, from the 1400 block of Garnet to the corner of Garnet and the Boardwalk, were installed in Pacific Beach on Saturday, April 16th. Felipe Irony, with Surfrider, and Nick Gatelein, with ILACSD, joined efforts in helping keep our streets, beaches and oceans clean!!

More butts collected at beach cleanups!

On Sat, 4/9/11, 262 people cleaned up 1403 cigarette butts at Sunset Cliffs. Also on 4/10/11, 32 people clean up 816 butts in Mission Beach. Thank you volunteers!!

Coronado Beach Cleanup

On 3/26/11 volunteers picked up 2,047 cigarette butts in Coronado. Thank you for keeping our beaches clean:)

March 2011 HOTYB hotline calls

Thank you callers...for 244 calls on the HOTYB hotline this past month! We appreciate your continued concern on this issue.

March 19, 2011 Moonlight Beach Cleanup

Last weekend volunteers cleaned up 2,820 cigarette butts! Thank you volunteers:)

Oceanside beach cleanup efforts!

On Sat, 3/12/11, the beach cleanup crew in Oceanside collected 8799 butts! Wow what an ongoing issue!!

10 New Ashcans Installed in Hillcrest!!

Thank you to Benjamin Nicholls, the Hillcrest Business Improvement Association and local businesses for their sponsorship and support in helping keep our streets clean of cigarette butt litter!!

Like the idea of cigarette butts having a redemption value?

Hi.

If you think that cigarette butts having a value to them (and recycling) can help increase their disappearance, then please vote for this daily through March 27th! It's a Green Award worth $25,000 and would really enhance our Cigarette Butt Redemption & Recycling program based here in San Diego (and partnered with Surfrider Foundation)

Read more here: http://www.ripplelife.org/butts

VOTE HERE!

Thanks everyone!

Feb 2011 HOTYB hotline calls

This Feb we had 214 calls on our hotline regarding butt flicking incidents....thanks to the concerned citizens calling in!

Raising awareness thru the local Union Tribune newspaper

The HOTYB group was published in the local San Diego Union Tribune newspaper, raising awareness to a broader audience, and getting the word out about the cigarette waste issue. View the newspaper article here. Many thanks to Nathan Max at the Union-Tribune.

Two New Ashcans at P.B. Shore Club!!!

Thank you to Billy, Doug & the Pacific Beach Shore Club for their sponsorship donation for two new ash cans!! Thank you for helping keep our streets and beaches clean of cigarette butt litter!!!

New ashcan at Blind Lady Ale House!

Thank you to Jeff Motch & Blind Lady Ale House for
helping keep our streets clean of cigarette butt litter!!

Redemption & Recycling of Cigarette Butts?

Hey everyone!

RippleLife's grassroots project offers the first ever Butt Redemption Value (BRV) to incentivize the collection of cigarette butts the same way bottles, cans, and other recyclables are. It's a chance for outdoor lovers to get their hands dirty with us to clean up our big blue playground, stop the damage cigarette butts inflict upon our eco-systems, and give these plastic filters a better second life.

Our project goals are to realize a cleaner and safer outdoors, reduce landfill waste, and recycle these plastic filters --today-- not when cities, states, federal government, and Tobacco companies finally figure out a solution to this ugly problem. Since an outright global ban of cigarette filters is highly unlikely, our 'education and prevention -partners- with collection and repurposing' approach is a crazy yet brilliant idea. The overwhelming feedback? "This is the next evolutionary step... great job!"

RippleLife's initial BRV will start at USD $3.00 per pound and offers recyclers another opportunity to make a difference. Don't care about the BRV? Just tell us you'd like to donate your proceeds to this project or choose from 20 of our other approved outdoor causes like Surfrider Foundation, The Ocean Conservancy, and Leave No Trace. You'll receive a 100% tax-deductible receipt and your donation will be added to your Ripple if you have one. Oh... and the places you love will shine a bit brighter!

We're happy to be working with Surfrider Foundation on this issue!

Don't just "Hold on to your butt".... bring them to one of our collection events! The next one is Saturday March 19th in Pacific Beach! More info here: http://www.ripplelife.org/butts

Like the idea? Help us out too :)

~ Cheers, Curtis

More butts collected at beach cleanups!

On Feb 19, 2011 at the Moonlight Beach cleanup, 33 volunteers picked up 1025 cigarette butts--wow thanks for keeping our beaches clean:)

Cigarette butts collected from beach cleanups in 2011...

On Feb 12, 2011 volunteers at the South Carlsbad beach cleanup collected 405 butts! Many thanks to the cleanup leaders and volunteers for their efforts as we try to reduce this littered item on our beaches.

40,000 butts collected from SD beaches in 2010

Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Chapter partners with "San Diego Coastkeeper" for twice-monthly beach cleanups. In 2010, out of the total number of items found, 26% was cigarette butts. Smoking is illegal on San Diego beaches. You can view San Diego Coastkeeper's data here.
Do you part by volunteering for a beach cleanup or for HOTYB.

Surfrider ashcans in Pacific Beach!

HOTYB committee member Brian Austin (left) met with Pacific Beach community leader Andy Henshaw of "Discover PB" to help eliminate cigarette waste along Garnet Avenue and surrounding areas. Brian and Andy located 27 currently installed ashcans, and identified 10 other areas that need ashcans in busy sections of PB near bars & restaurants.

"Hold on to your butt" high school outreach

The "Hold on to your butt" committee (HOTYB) is looking for high school principals, administrators, and teachers who would like a HOTYB demonstration in their high school classroom. Students will learn the chemical and environmental dangers of cigarette butt waste, and the value and reward of volunteering, among other topics in this very relevant presentation.

For info or to schedule a high school presentation, contact Brian at austin@surfriderSD.org