Where to drop your butts? Not down the storm drain. On Main Street, these cigarette butt containers are intended to fight litter.
Litter – including nasty cigarette butts – is a big concern in Midtown. On Main Street, the folks at the Main Street Corridor Development Corporation (MainCor) and CID know how important it is to keep cigarette litter under control. “Cigarette butt litter is something that few people think about when they toss what’s left of their cigarettes to the ground. As a result, the area becomes full of cigarette butts, and it makes the area look unkempt and dirty,” says MainCor’s Morgan Gardner.
In fact, the Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) tells us the presence of litter in a community decreases property values by seven percent. It also points out that, while smoking has decreased over the last decade, butts remain the most littered item. So it’s a common misperception that tossing butts is no big deal.
The CLPP previously gave MainCor a grant to place cigarette butt containers at bus shelters. A new grant allows MainCor to expand the program to put containers outside of businesses such as gas stations, restaurants and bars where people gather to smoke. Will it work to reduce litter? Gardner says the grant requires MainCor to report back to CLPP in six weeks, so stay tuned for the results.
What do you think? Is cigarette butt litter a problem in Midtown?
Who’s talking