LAKE HURON CENTRE FOR COASTAL CONSERVATION LAUNCHES BUTT FREE BEACH
GRAND BEND – July 5, 2012 – Can you imagine a wheel barrel full of 20 000 cigarette butts? On July 5th, the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation and partner organization TerraCycle will be on the Main Beach at Grand Bend with a powerful message: cigarette butts, the most common form of litter, are dangerous.
Funded by the Grand Bend Community Foundation, Butt Free Beach is a pilot public education campaign to see if cigarette butt litter can be reduced through education and by providing a way for smokers to responsibly dispose their butts. Additional details can be found in the attached Backgrounder.
With the help of media across the region we hope to bring attention to this pilot project so that beach goers across South Western Ontario are made aware of this significant environmental and social problem. The event will be one hour and will provide media representatives with background on the issue and why the campaign is important, and offer an opportunity to take pictures of program materials and ask questions.
| Where | Grand Bend Main Beach | |
| When | July 5th 2013 | |
| Time | 1 pm | Meet at Grand Bend Main Beach playground |
| 1:05 pm1:10 pm1:20 pm
1:30 pm |
Opening remarksPresentation on the Butt Free Beach programPresentation on the Cigarette Waste Brigade program
Photo opportunities |
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| 1:40 pm | Question and Answer period | |
| 1:55 pm | Closing remarks | |
| Who | Karen Alexander, Outreach and Education Coordinator, Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation will present the Butt Free Beach program. She will provide some background on the issue and have the Butt Free Beach program materials on display.Jay Reyes, with TerraCycle will be describing the Cigarette Waste Brigade and have on display a wheel barrel of 20 000 cigarette butts for a unique photo-opportunity. 20 000 cigarette butts represent only 0.05 % of the total number of butts recovered during the 2012 Great Canadian Shoreline cleanup; at 416 955 items, cigarette butts topped the “Dirty Dozen” list.
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About the Coastal Centre
The Coastal Centre is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the conservation and wise stewardship of Lake Huron’s coastal ecosystems. One of the Centre’s roles is to engage local communities in protecting our lake and its coast. Website: www.lakehuron.ca
About TerraCycle
TerraCycle, Inc. is an international upcycling company that takes difficult-to-recycle packaging and turns
it into affordable, innovative products. TerraCycle and Imperial Tobacco Canada partnered in 2012 to create
an innovative program to recycle the butts, inner foil, outer wrap, unused tobacco, ashes and other elements
that comprise cigarette waste. To learn more, visit www.terracycle.ca
For additional information, please contact:
Karen Alexander
Outreach and Education Coordinator
Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation
karen.alexander@lakehuron.on.
Jay Reyes
TerraCycle