Case Study - Keep Britain Tidy

No butts – stub it, bin it!

Litter is ugly

however you disguise it

Litter can't change it's spots

Keep Britain Tidy’s smoking-related litter campaign in 2006 resulted in a 35 per cent reduction in cigarette litter. However, a partial ban on smoking in public places is expected to force smokers outside in July 2007. A new cigarette litter campaign is launched this spring.

Launched in February 2006, the previous campaign was a combined advertising, PR and media initiative targeted directly at smokers who dispose of their cigarette ends incorrectly. £430K were spent aiming to reduce smoking-related litter in monitored areas by 20 per cent and to encourage the purchase and use of personal ashtrays and cigarette bins by local authorities, businesses and members of the public.

The campaign received excellent media coverage and was featured in national media. Regionally, around 50 regional newspapers and 30 radio stations covered the campaign.

Smoking ban likely to increase litter

In 2007, the Government plans to introduce a partial ban on smoking in public places. The ban will force smokers outside, which is likely to lead to an even bigger increase in smoking related litter.

"Boxes, butts and matches are our biggest litter problem and are found on around 90% of our streets. While we all understand the reasons for a ban, the health of our environment has got to be considered too and smokers need something to drop their dog ends in. If we don’t provide this, then England will become a giant ashtray.”" - Alan Woods, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy.

Local authorities taking part

In December 2005, Keep Britain Tidy invited local authorities to apply to become one of ten partnership councils as part of the smoking-related litter campaign. In return for increased advertising in these areas, the councils agreed to encourage the use of personal ashtrays, increase enforcement, increase cigarette bin provision, run local PR & media campaigns and work with local businesses.

The campaign was supported by 14 bin manufacturers and four pocket ashtray manufacturers. Organisations were asked to sign up to the campaign and provide appropriate disposal facilities for their staff and visitors.

The new Keep Britain Tidy campaign sees 12 local authorities helping ENCAMS, who runs the campaign, monitoring the effects of it. They are: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Camden, Colchester, Cornwall, Leeds, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Stoke, Wigan and Wirral. Advertising featuring the ‘no butts, stub it, bin it’ message will appear across England on outdoor sites such as billboards, bus stops and phone kiosks. The use of portable ashtrays and the widespread installation of dedicated cigarette bins will be encouraged.

Distributing ashtrays and bins

During the previous campaign Keep Britain Tidy worked with ASDA to distribute 250,000 pocket ashtrays at the cigarette kiosks of stores nationally. The giveaway was a huge success with many stores running out of ashtrays in a matter of days. Keep Britain Tidy also distributed 6,400 pocket ashtrays to local authorities and members of the public.

Due to promotion on the ENCAMS website, 380 dedicated cigarette bins were purchased by local authorities. A total of 69,395 portable ashtrays were sold during the campaign period and over 13,000 A3 posters distributed to business and local authorities.

The cigarette litter campaign section of the ENCAMS website received 7,148 hits between January and March 2006. A total of 212 fixed penalty notices were issued for smoking litter offences by key authorities in the two week period of the campaign.

Research supporting the campaign

Smoking-related rubbish has risen by 19% in the last three years, which makes it a bigger litter problem than fast food, drinks cans and chewing gum. According to Keep Britain Tidy’s latest survey of England, the biggest jump in cig rubbish has occurred around warehouses, offices and factories.

A large proportion of males and females taking part in ENCAMS research acknowledged that when they threw cigarette ends on the ground, they would glance around to make sure no-one was looking. For the most part, this was associated with guilt about littering, but, for many, the availability of a bin or ashtray was crucial to the way they disposed of their cigarette ends.

Some respondents who smoked in the street, openly confessed to throwing butts on the floor. When smoking in the car, most choose to throw the cigarette end out of the window for safety and hygienic reasons.

Butts, but no other litter

Astonishingly, many participants who admitted to dropping cigarette butts, claimed they would never drop other kinds of litter. Many respondents claimed that because cigarette ends were small and insignificant, it was easier to ignore the fact that they were dropping them. A proportion comforted themselves with the false belief that butts are biodegradable, or at least that they dispersed easily.

The campaign was directed at all smokers, but greater emphasis was placed on targeting female smokers aged 21-40, belonging to a group that have been identified as having feelings of guilt when dropping litter. The campaign aimed to play on this ‘guilt’ factor, to bring about positive attitudinal change.

Evaluating the previous campaign

Attitude and awareness questionnaires were carried out in towns and cities across England. The results showed that 40% of the people questioned had seen the cigarette litter posters and 52% stated the posters would be likely to change their behaviour in the future.

For more information see www.encams.org/campaigns