by BRCA Beautification Committee
Did You Know?
Cigarette butts are toxic to the environment and are not biodegradable. Our volunteers are running this project to support the environment, and we ask smokers to do their part by using the collection boxes.
The cigarette butt recycling project kicked off in June 2024 with the installation of five butt collection boxes at “hot spots” in our community. This project was described in the July Bridges newsletter. BRCA Beautification Committee volunteers run the project, in conjunction with the City of Calgary Waste and Recycling department.
Since June, we installed ten more collection boxes in the SE quadrant of Bridgeland. We focused on popular smoking spots: benches and tables in parks, and places where people gather to take a break.
The project is working!
We notice fewer butts on the ground where butt boxes are installed. This tells us most smokers are using the boxes to properly dispose of their cigarette butts. We have received positive feedback when we are installing or checking the boxes. We’d like to give a shout out to The Rehabilitation Society Centre: 100% of their butts go in the box installed in their smoking area. They are helping the environment!
Our first shipment of collected butts went to Terracycle in Ontario on November 1. Two kilos of butts were shipped. This doesn’t sound like much; however, we estimate 2,500 butts were diverted form the environment. Terracycle separates tobacco from the butts for composting, and the filters are processed to make plastics used to make picnic tables and benches.
We are reaching out to more Bridgeland organizations to grow our project in 2025. If you have comments and suggestions, please email [email protected].
Click here to the Bridgeland Community News home page for the latest Bridgeland community updates.
