No butts in Cowboys stadium litter campaign
Suellen Hinde - Queensland Editor |
North Queensland Rugby League fans are doing their bit to protect the Great Barrier Reef by reducing the number of cigarette butts going into waterways from the Cowboys stadium in Townsville.
A ‘Ditch the Flick’ campaign to drive behavioural change among smokers has kicked butt at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, with a decrease in cigarette litter of 71 per cent during events ahead of the 2022 NRL season.
The campaign is diverting an estimated 1800 tossed butts a game potentially going into the adjacent Ross River, which runs into the Great Barrier Reef.
Tangaroa Blue Foundation CEO Heidi Tait said the installation of directional signage, cigarette butt bins and designated smoking areas had made a huge impact on smoker behaviour.
“Education is key, and with data showing a steady decrease, from around 2,300 butts collected at the first match last year and less than 500 butts by the fifth, we know it’s making an impact,” Ms Tait said.
“Marine debris is a major environmental issue worldwide, and cigarette butts are a huge concern locally, this sort of initiative is vital to ensuring the long-term health of our Reef and we are happy to be continuing with this project this year.”
Cigarette filters are made of a bioplastic called cellulose acetate, and they typically take years to break down. Smoked cigarette filters are infused with the same chemicals and heavy metals in the tar that harm humans and also kill fish.
A study by University of Queensland found adding two to four smoked cigarette butts to a litre of water was toxic to fish. A recent UQ paper has called for the tobacco industry to pay for cleaning up cigarette butts.
While the smoking rate among Australian adults has dropped to historic lows, in Australia it is estimated 8.9 billion cigarette butts are littered each year with many of them ending up on beaches and in the ocean. Butts are the most littered item in the country according to Clean Up Australia.
Reef Clean is a reef-wide 5-year program funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation. It aims to work with partners to remove and reduce marine debris impacting the Great Barrier Reef.
