Discarded cigarette stubs

[Brave Sir Robin]

Crikey, this still going? A 5-page debate about:

1) whether or not throwing cigarette butts on the floor is a bad thing; and

2) whether general waste bins are OK or whether designated cigarette bins are needed

strikes me as a low point in this fine forum's recent history...

[eoJ]

Don't want to come across critical but the tobacco is full of chemicals and it is partly that which is the problem and affects the soil.

That said well done for what you do.

[Guest]

Well that's the reality. The reality is that the organisers appear to be making as little effort to solve the problem as the people who litter.

Fine if that is what they want to do, but the reality is that it won't change anything. Likewise running people down on an obscure Internet forum for doing what amounts to pretty common practice also gets us nowhere either.

A few practical solutions however?

[CaledonianGonzo]

If anything, the people who litter the site should be applauded for their keen fire safety instincts.

[Guest]

Nicotine is also a commonly used organic pesticide, a few butts is ok, although the number that get chucked on the ground there isn't.

I'm genuinely curious, what do you expect people without an ashtray in their car to do with the 200 degree burning thing they're holding while driving?

[progue]

shit, people really need pandering to, don't they. "The organisers appear to be making little effort"... maybe there could be some extra volunteers, just following smokers around, waiting for the few seconds between finishing their cigarette, and stumbling across a bin, when there's a problem

[eoJ]

Not smoke while driving. Or get an ashtray.

Edited July 9, 2014 by eoJ

[H.M.V]

Providing normal fire safe bins to dispose of cigarette butts is pandering to people?

I don't understand why people seem to be so objectionable to a bit of common sense. Are we pandering to the drinkers by providing bins for cans or bars for them to buy drinks from?

I doubt you will get too much argument on here about the basic principle that it would be better for people not to dispose of their cigarette end on the floor....It seems however there is plenty of objection to a few practical solutions that may go some way to solving that problem.

Better to leave it as it is and deride the people who drop their fag butts on an internet forum?

If people see bins with fag butts in them and they see other people using them, then a good few will get the message and start using them.

Stick a sign on the bins saying please dispose of your cigarette butts responsibly and no doubt a few more will get the message.

Issue festival goers with the cigarette butt disposal things on the way in like you do with the refuse sacks and again you might get the message across to a few more.

The alternative is that everyone carries on doing what they do and nobody is any the wiser and the problem persists and people on here moan about it etc etc etc..

A lot of the people who attend are new to Glastonbury, New to Festivals and, like I said earlier in the thread, most likely totally ignorant of the issue. These people aren't all mindless oiks hell bent on trashing the farm, they are most likely people like you and me..People who are fallible, who make mistakes and who are ignorant about certain things as we all are.

So as I say, we can choose to slag them off and achieve nothing at all in the process or we can perhaps address a practical problem with a practical solution.

I know which option makes more sense to me.

[zero000]

Confession; I have a tendency to get drunk and drop my cans and the occasional fag butt when I'm at Glastonbury. This thread has made me realize what a dick I was being, I wouldn't do it in the street, so to do it at Glastonbury is even worse.

Next year I'm going to be less of an arsehole!

[frostypaw]

Do people walk around with their butts in a little box at other festivals?

Or is it just special treatment for the magical la la land of Glastonbury?

Edited July 9, 2014 by frostypaw

[Guest]

Where do you put that ashtray?

I think mine does, but if you need to brake, any butts will come flying out, it's a smooth gentle slope into it. I've seen many that have the cigar lighters built into the console though, not sure where the ashtray would be.

[frostypaw]

lol

This is like Little Britain... yea but no but. I've never been in a car that doesn't have an ash tray... "I think mine does"..? How do you drive, to enable an ash tray to empty itself when you brake?

Or am I a victim of trolling?

[neilloggie]

I know smoking isn't for everyone, but considering that there was plenty of advertisements requesting people not to throw their cigarette ends on the floor, where else are they meant to put them?

I was sat outside numerous bars this year, and after having a cigarette I was unsure of where to dispose of the ends. I asked numerous people working in the bars and they told me "just throw them on the floor, there's no ashtrays here".

I ended up just making sure that when I wanted one I'd throw them in the bottom of my can of lager before binning it as there really was no one else to put them.

[progue]

Sorry Frosty, but it doesn't just come down to lack of thought. It also comes down to a lack of anything to particularly spark that thought.

If you put out your but on the side of the steel bin (what happens to the lit end? Falls into the pile of paper items scattered around the bin and represents a potential fire hazard.)

Also handing out the fag butt things at the info points is great for anyone who happens to go to an info point looking for one. Handing them out as you enter the festival and asking people to use them is much more likely to have a positive impact on people who may not have otherwise even considered it.

Like I keep saying...You can slate the people who are are putting them on the floor till you are blue in the face...I agree with you that it is not good, but what does that actually achieve in a practical sense?

Is it really that big of a deal to maybe have a barrel filled with sand every 100 yards on the pathways and a few dotted around the site where people congregate?

I mean when you bear in mind the number of smokers on site and the extra joint smokers...It seems utterly stupid not to provide proper bins really.

Edited July 9, 2014 by progue

[musky]

Love the Farm. Leave no trace.

I'm assuming we're all aware of this little slogan and what it means. So how many of us did leave no trace? I don't mean gathering up your campsite rubbish, and depositing (or dumping, as it's more properly called) the bags next to some bins. And how many took home the property that they'd purchased along with their food, or did they tip their cups and plates into the bins provided for those too ignorant and lazy to heed such a simple message.

Love the Farm. Leave no trace.

[verrymerry]

I'm not sure the festival organisers intend "leave to trace" to extend to taking home all the cups you get from the bars, or plates from food stalls... I'm not saying that wouldn't be great but lets be realistic!

[Guest]

are you suggesting we should take home every used paper plate, paper cup, empty can etc, that we but at the festival?

[progue]

Whilst people on here might be aware of the slogan, I'd bet at least half of those at the festival won't and half of the ones who have probably won't know what it means.

If there's one thing I've learned in 40 years on the planet it is never to assume anything where people are concerned.

Perfectly decent and intelligent people will act in remarkably stupid irresponsible way without a bit of a gentle reminder now and again...We all do it.

Edited July 9, 2014 by progue

[musky]

are you suggesting we should take home every used paper plate, paper cup, empty can etc, that we but at the festival?

[grumpyhack]

There's one thing worse than a smoker and that's a littering smoker. A few years ago at Glasto they gave out 35mm film canisters for people to carry their butts in until they could properly dispose of them. I've still got mine and have given loads to other smokers. You can still pick up canisters from film processing shops (35mm is still a well used format despite digital).

I carry it in my car when I'm not at Glasto and do the same rather than throwing butts out of the window.

The good thing about the film canisters is that they are air tight so you don't get the smell of stale tobacco butts leaking out.

[guypjfreak]

bring back green police ......i remember them handing out things for people to put there cig ends in ..

[Amii]

I always bin mine. If I can't get to a bin, I'll seek out a dropped can so they're easier to pick up - there are always cans littered around in crowds by the stages.

Each discarded cigarette butt makes eight litres of ground water toxic. Or something like that.

[progue]

Apparently putting them in a can is not good either.

[frostypaw]

If you put out your but on the side of the steel bin (what happens to the lit end? Falls into the pile of paper items scattered around the bin and represents a potential fire hazard.)

[Klyde]

Planning on buying a ticket for 2015 and just staying at home to watch it on the telly.

Desperate to win the "leave no trace efestivals awards".