YES— IT’S REALLY LITTER

YES — IT’S REALLY LITTER An awareness campaign proposal

With excerpts from:

Whose butt is it?by Elizabeth A. Smith and Thomas E. Novotny

Covering Their Butts by Elizabeth A. Smith and Patricia A. McDaniel

With additional text by Ray Eastburn

EVERY YEAR 766,571 METRIC TONS OF CIGARETTE BUTTS WIND UP AS LITTER WORLDWIDE.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Cigarette filters are one of the most littered items in the world. To many people, this item is not seen as litter. The cigarette filter is highly toxic and is an overlooked environmental threat.

It is important to raise the awareness of this issue, in order to create an informed society that is dedicated to maintaining a more stable environment.

THERE’S NO BUTTS ABOUT IT

Cigarette filters are made of non-biodegradable cellulose acetate. World wide, as much as 5.2 trillion cigarette butts are littered yearly. Cigarette butts are consistently the single most collected item in beach clean-ups and litter surveys.

Numerous proposals have been made to prevent or mitigate cigarette butt pollution, but none have been effective.

By itself, cellulose acetate degrades very slowly in our environment. Depending on the conditions of where the cigarette butt is discarded, it can take between 18 months to 10 years for a cigarette butt to decompose.

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THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY HAS MANAGED THE LITTER ISSUE TO ITS ADVANTAGE BY BLAMING IT ON INDIVIDUALS.

YOUR BUTT IS TOXIC

Used cigarette filters are full of toxins known as tar. These chemicals leach into the ground and waterways, damaging living organisms that come into contact with them.

Toxin-filled cigarette butts work their way into our waterways primarily through storm drains that carry this toxic waste into streams and lakes.

Studies conducted by Clean Virginia Waterways have shown that just one cigarette butt in approxi-mately two gallons of water

is lethal to water fleas, a tiny crustacean found in fresh water and saltwater.

Water fleas are eaten by many animals, such as fish and aquatic insects, and serve as an important part of the aquatic food chain. Tiny bits of tobacco that are invariably attached to used cigarette filters carry more toxins than the filters themselves.

Cigarette filters are a threat to wildlife that mistake them for food and to small children, who may eat them if they’re within reach.

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EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY HAS BEEN NEGLIGENT IN TESTING THE HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INGESTING FILTER CONTAMINANTS.

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BUT FILTERS ARE SAFE. WRONG

A cigarette filter’s ideal purpose is reducing the amount of smoke, tar, and fine particles inhaled during the combustion of a ciga-rette. Filters also reduce the harshness of the smoke and keep tobacco flakes out of the smoker’s mouth.

By the 1960’s, filtered cigarettes were considered

“safer” and they began to dominate the market. It was cheaper to produce a filtered cigarette than an unfiltered one.

Kent Micronite cigarettes, containing asbestos, had first been marketed as “the

greatest health protection in cigarette history.” Soon many people who smoked Kent cigarettes experienced health complications as a result of asbestos exposure. The Kent Micronite filter was pulled from production as a public health concern.

During the same time Philip Morris scientists noticed that their filters shed tiny fibers that could be inhaled into the lungs. The industry called it “fallout.” This “fallout” can be detrimental to one’s health and still persists in cigarettes today.

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A Kent Micronite filter from 1954

CAMPAIGNPROPOSAL

THE MESSAGE

The intent of this campaign proposal is first to educate the general public about the amount and statics of cigarette filter pollution.

There is also the hope to help motivate behavior change. “Strip it & Bin it,” is a simple two-step process in reducing the spread of filter pollution. The smoker first strips it (putting out their cigarette) then bins it (throws it away.)

This is ultimately about containment. Cigarette filters belong in garbage cans and landfills, rather than parks, streets and water ways.

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S T R I P I T & B I N I T

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THE TARGETS

THE MOBILE SMOKER

The mobile smoker is the most litter prone. When traveling by either foot or car, smokers often don’t find an appropriate place to dispose of their filters.

Focus groups have said that flicking a cigarette was

“so widespread” it was almost acceptable. Smokers and non-smokers agreed that this “was a less flagrant litter violation than tossing a bottle or can.”

Some smokers felt they had permission to litter, because cigarette butts were not viewed as causing significant harm to the environment.

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THE TARGETS

THE IMMOBILE SMOKER

Outside of almost every office building, people can be found smoking. In most cases these buildings require those smokers to stand at least 20 feet away from the entrance. This requirement promotes littering.

Most buildings that require smokers to stand away from the building, do not offer ashtrays. Building owners are effectively pushing cigarette litter 20 feet away from their building but not eliminating the littering problem.

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Waiting and smoking are two things that go perfectly together. The purpose of the Bus Stop Intervention is to bring the litter problem into a much larger scale. Instead of just seeing filters sprawled throughout the city, people now see the large scale of littering that is produced from cigarette filters.

The intent is that smokers will dispose of their filters in this large public ashtray when they’re done smoking.

In doing this, they will be adding to the image of the growing pile of discarded cigarette butts that is eating away at the view of the city.

The bus advertisement space will be completely transparent, with a short text and the “Strip it & Bin it” logo pasted on the outside of the glass. There will be deposit holes located on the front left and right sides of the display, allowing for quick and easy disposal.

BUS STOP INTERVENTION

The bus stop intervention display will be able to hold approximately 5,000 cigarette filters. On the back, towards to bottom of the display, will be a large slot where city workers can empty the display as it reaches capacity.

Clear glass for thefilter viewing area.

Deposit slots located on the front and sides of the display that are fed through the side and routes the filters to drop from the top.

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The Sidewalk Intervention makes the campaign’s message more visible to the mobile smoker. Smokers often treat sewer grates and manhole covers like ashtrays. The intervention’s message is to inform smokers that cigarette litter easily makes its way into the waterways, and has a great effect on our water supply in doing so.

The installation consists of a vinyl sticker that is applied to the top of man hole covers on city sidewalks. A statistic, along with the “Strip it & Bin it” graphic, are spray painted to the sidewalk from a stencil.

SIDEWALK INTERVENTION

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Along with a fully functional ashtray, the Public Ashtray Intervention is a way to further communicate the wide spread littering of cigarette filters.

Wrapped around the ashtray is a white vinyl sticker with a cut out of a cigarette. As the bin is empty, the icon will be transparent. As the ashtray is filled, there will be a visible change when the icon is filled in with the texture of discarded cigarette butts.

PUBLIC ASHTRAY INTERVENTION

The campaign’s message is that containment is the answer. The fewer filters sprawled throughout our environment, the better.“Strip it & Bin it” directs

smokers to dispose of their filters properly. The graphic depicts a simple way that a person can help with the containment of cigarette litter, with little to no inconvenience.

Through multiple iterations and interventions the slogan’s design should be-come a signal that pricks the publics conscience.

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YES—BUT…

Over the course of a year nearly 5.2 trillion cigarette filters are littered worldwide. The cigarette filter is a defec-tive product by nature and it harms our environment.

This campaign intends to raise awareness, as well as stimulate behavior change. Cigarette filters are highly toxic and belong in landfills, rather than water ways and sidewalks.

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TEXT:

Smith, Elizabeth A., and Thomas E. Novotny. “Whose Butt Is It? Tobacco Industry Research about Smokers and Cigarette Butt Waste.” Tobacco Control 20.1 (2011):i2-i9. Tobacco Control BMJ. Web.

Smith, Elizabeth A., and Patricia A. McDaniel. “Covering Their Butts: Responses to the Cigarette Litter Problem.” Tobacco Control 20.2 (2011): 100-06. Tobacco Control. BMJ. Web.

IMAGES:

Page 4–5Smoking + Dreaming = Relax. 2013. Photograph. Flickr. 1 Feb. 2013. Web.

Page 7Beach Cigarette. 2007. Photograph. Flickr. 7 Mar. 2007. Web.

Page 101954 Kent Micronite Cigarette Asbestos Filter - Mouthpiece View. 2005. Photograph. Flickr. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.

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Page 17Family Day Walk (III). 2013. Photograph. Flickr. 18 Feb. 2013. Web.

Page 21 pull outA New Filter. 2012. Photograph. Flickr. 21 Apr. 2012. Web.

Page 26 pull outPublic Ashtray. 2012. Photograph. Flickr. 2 June 2012. Web.

COLOPHON:

Completed as partial fulfillment of therequirements of GDES 402 01,Design Studio, in the Graphic DesignDepartment of The Universityof the Arts, Philadelphia Pennsylvaniain the Spring Semester of 2013.

Sherry Lefevre and Chris Myers, advisors.Nancy Mayer, critic