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NORWALK, Conn. Smoking is a habit Miriam Rivera just can't give up, but she's conscientious about it. When she sits at the beach, she uses a water-filled Styrofoam cup for an ashtray, sinking it into the sand so it doesn't fall over. She'd never throw a cigarette butt on the ground.
Other people do, though: There are butts scattered all over Calf Pasture Beach Park, and we're not talking about tight bathing suits. That is why members of Keep Norwalk Beautiful are urging Norwalkers to do the patriotic thing this weekend and pick up the litter.
It's phase one of a Keep Norwalk Beautiful campaign to drastically reduce cigarette litter at city beaches, parks and streets. With help from a $1,500 Keep America Beautiful grant, Diane Lauricella and other members are putting up posters to raise awareness among smokers and others who can pick up litter themselves. In two weeks, the volunteers will begin phase two, attacking the cigarette butt problem on Washington Street. One approach is to hand out free portable ashtrays, also paid for by the grant.
"We want to make this a citywide effort," said Lauricella. "We're really jazzed and excited about litter, believe it or not."
One problem with litter is "keeping people's morale low because they're not proud of their beautiful streets and sidewalks," she said. Cigarette butts wind up in Long Island Sound. Some people think butts are made of cotton, but there are chemicals in the filters, including nicotine, a poison, and benzene. "There are other chemicals that are not good for humans but definitely not good for little fishes, who sometimes mistake the cigarette butts underwater for forms of food, like worms," she said. "We know smoking is a habit. We're saying we want our smokers to respect our parks our city and our environment. So we ask that they be mindful and we'd love the little kids of Norwalk to tell their parents or their caregivers, don't create litter with cigarette butts."
Mayor Richard Moccia said, "It's amazing how many people don't consider cigarette butts as litter. ... If you're going to smoke, don't litter. The only butts we would like to see are citizens walking by and shopping, so don't put that on the ground."
Rivera is already onboard. "It's amazing to come to the beach and find cigarette butts scattered all over the place," she said. "People need to be careful. Garbage bags are free, they give them to you at the supermarket."
Would you say something to a person throwing a cigarette butt on the ground?
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