Don't be a pain in the ash campaign launched

As part of a fresh bid to cut rates of cigarette littering, a new advertising campaign called ‘Don’t be a pain in the ash’ has been launched by Council.

The campaign calls on smokers to use Council’s butt bins to properly dispose of their cigarette waste.

With the slogan ‘Don’t be a pain in the ash’, the campaign also serves as a reminder that butt littering causes painful problems for the environment, council staff and local neighbourhoods.

It comes after recent data released by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) revealed that each year 1.32 billion butts are tossed into gutters, gardens and other places they don’t belong.

Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said cigarette butts were the most littered item in Canterbury-Bankstown and a fresh campaign would renew ongoing efforts to reduce butt pollution.

“The ‘Don’t be a pain in the ash’ campaign is a creative way Council is drawing attention to a serious pollution problem in our communities,” Mayor El-Hayek said.

“Cigarette pollution is bad for the environment and everyone in our community who has to look at such unsightly rubbish.”

Mayor El-Hayek said people who failed to butt out properly faced hefty fines if they were caught.

“Council officers can issue fines of up to $500 to people caught littering, so the cost of not doing the right thing and butting out properly could be high,” he said.

“Smokers can avoid the risk entirely and easily do the right thing by butting out in bins provided across our City.”

Campsie will be the first suburb to see the new campaign from mid-September and other suburbs will soon follow, with signs and posters to be put on display. Social media will also be used to spread the ‘Don’t be a pain in the ash’ message.