Cigarette Butt Bins Placed in Levin

PUT YOUR BUTT HERE & KEEP LEVIN BEAUTIFUL

Horowhenua District Council and Keep Levin Beautiful Group are asking the community to help Keep Levin Beautiful and keep cigarette butts where they belong - in the bin!

In a joint project between the Horowhenua District Council and Keep Levin Beautiful, over 100 cigarette butt bins for the Levin community will be installed to encourage the appropriate disposal of cigarette butts in the Levin CBD and surrounding precinct.

'We believe that smokers will respond positively and dispose of their cigarette butts more responsibly and result in a reduction in cigarette butts on our streets and ending up in stormwater drains and the environment.

The Oxford Trust has generously funded this project of 150 cigarette butt bins.  The bins will be installed over the next few weeks by Councils Contractors Fulton Hogan Open Space Management and regular emptying, cleaning and servicing will occur.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful (KNZB) Chairman Hon Roger McClay reiterated the desire to address the cigarette butt litter problem saying " the only way to overcome this problem  is to help people understand that it is a matter of personal responsibility not to litter the streets and allow cigarette butts into our beautiful waterways.    With this initiative there is now no excuse that there's nowhere to put them".

Since the changes to the Smokefree laws in 2004, which banned smoking in all indoor areas, cigarette butt litter ahs become more of a problem for councils.  Cigarette butts are one of the most common rubbish times in New Zealand and often end up in the waterway, entering the food chains of fish, birds and other marine life who mistake them for food.

As a Council we are proud to be assisting Keep Levin Beautiful with this project and the believe that efforts and initiatives like the Cigarette Butt Bins provide sensible solutions to address these issues said.

Ends