The local Surfrider Foundation was proud to announce the installation of 20 cigarette butt receptacles around Hermosa Beach during last Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
“It’s the first step in trying to get the cigarette litter under control,” said Craig Cadwallader, Surfrider Foundation South Bay chapter chair. “Personally I think the best way is to get people to stop smoking, but that’s probably not going to happen in my lifetime.”
In 2012 the Hermosa Beach city council approved one of the most aggressive outdoor smoking bans in the region. The ban, which went into effect in March 1, 2012, nixed smoking at all of Hermosa’s outdoor dining areas including the city pier, Pier Plaza, the Strand, greenbelt and all city parks and parking lots.
“With our outdoor lifestyle, the small minority who smoke in public places threatens the health and safety of the majority of our residents, visitors and workers who don’t smoke,” Councilmember Howard Fishman said at the ban’s installment.
Most of the 21-inch long 3.5 inch wide cylindrical tubes, which bear a Surfrider decal that reads, “Beaches and Streets are NOT Ashtrays,” have been installed around town. Cadwallader hopes that Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach will soon follow Hermosa’s example and initiate a smoking ban.
“We’re offering to do the same thing for all the cities in the South Bay who adopt an outdoor smoking ban,” Cadwallader said. “Part of the deal [in Hermosa] was if they set designated smoking places, we would provide the receptacles.”
The $165 powder coated stainless steel tubes were custom made by Robin Blench of Oceanside, who also designed 130 ash trays installed in San Diego.
“The main concept is just to get the butts out of the environment,” Cadwallader said. “We want to keep them out of the ocean, off of the beach and out of the storm drains.
Cadwallader said that 18 percent of residents in Hermosa Beach are smokers.
“This means that 82 percent of people don’t smoke—the litter problem is really bad. I don’t know if smokers think cigarette butts are biodegradable, but they’re not,” said Cadwallader. “It takes them 15 years to degrade, and they’re highly toxic.”
“It’s sort of a ‘you can lead a horse to water’ but instead, you can put up cigarette butt containers but that doesn’t mean people are going to use them,” said council member Jeff Duclos. “None the less we should make an effort to do it.”
The local Surfrider Foundation plans to track the amount of cigarette litter after the ash cans are installed.
“I just hope the smokers actually use them,” said Cadwallader. ER
