Fewer people smoking, but more butts collected: Downtown Vancouver BIA
The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association's clean-up crew focused its efforts on picking up discarded cigarette butts and collected 75 pounds' worth within the span of three weeks.
Joshua Davidson, interim director of operations for Downtown Van, said the public needs to be aware that cigarette butts can stick around for up to 25 years.
“It's not just paper. It's not just going to disintegrate with the rain. They're going to stay around,” he said. “Most of these butts end up on the floor, making our city feel not as clean, not as safe. And many end up in our water systems, into the ocean. It’s extremely toxic to aquatic life.”
The BIA did something similar in 2019, when its clean team members picked up 57 pounds' worth of butts over the course of one month.
Yet, there are fewer smokers now than before. According to the University of Waterloo, the B.C. smoking rate in 2017 was 15.6 per cent. In 2020, it dropped to 7.7 per cent.
“We need more receptacles to collect cigarette butts properly," Davidson said.
In an email to CTV News, the city said there are about 40 cigarette butt receptacles in the downtown area.
It has been piloting various bins and is continuing to test new models.
City Coun. Peter Meiszer lives downtown and fumes when he sees discarded butts.
“I find it very frustrating. I don't like seeing litter anywhere in our beautiful city and I know that it's our BIAs working as hard as they can – as well as city crews – to clean it up. But (I'm) just really, really hoping that people will take a moment, you know, have pride in our city and do what they can to ensure that it's litter free and beautiful for everybody to enjoy,” he told CTV News.
He said the city sees an annual average of 71 fires sparked by discarded butts, warning it is a fire risk, in addition to the environmental impacts.
The city is providing free pocket ashtrays at various locations to encourage smokers to keep their butts rather than throwing them on the ground.
LITTER OF VAPES GOING UP
The BIA clean team is also seeing discarded vaping material.
“Interestingly, with vaping on the rise, we're finding lots of disposable batteries and vapes. So, that's really it's creeping up behind the cigarette butts,” Davidson said. “Many vapes these days, the affordable ones are disposable, so there's no real incentive to buy it and (reuse), including adding the oil. They're just being thrown away.”
He said there may soon be a pilot program to address this issue.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.