Smokers will be urged to ‘Ditch the Flick’ in a new campaign to have cigarette butts binned instead of ending up as litter on the ground and in waterways.
The new campaign is already being promoted at Station Place in Werribee at the entrance to the Werribee train station.
New cigarette butt bins have been installed at cigarette butt hotspots with clear directional signage, making them easy to identify and convenient to use.
The campaign is being delivered by Wyndham City and Tangaroa Blue Foundation, building on the earlier litter mapping project ‘Let’s Strain the Drains’.
‘Let’s Strain the Drains’ was a project delivered over four years in collaboration with eight other councils.
It involved the installation of drain traps to identify what was being washed into the stormwater system and Port Phillip Bay; cigarette butts were identified as the number one littered item entering the waterways.
Wyndham City is the first local government in Melbourne to start implementing the ‘Ditch the Flick’ campaign in response to the previous research.
Wyndham City Mayor, Cr Susan McIntyre, said she was proud to see Wyndham take the lead to keep our waterways and neighbourhoods clean.
“We take pride in keeping our City tidy and contributing to looking after our environment,” she said.
“The ‘Let’s Strain the Drains’ campaign was important in helping us identify what litter was ending up in our stormwater system and I welcome this follow-on campaign that aims to stop the littering of cigarette butts.”
Cr Robert Szatkowski, Wyndham City’s Climate Futures and Environment portfolio holder said: “We all have a responsibility to keep our City clean and tidy and I encourage all our residents and visitors to help keep our City clean by using bins instead of littering.”
“The ‘Ditch the Flick’ campaign, with its focus on cigarette butts, is one of many initiatives that we have in place to encourage residents not to litter or dump rubbish,” he said.
Heidi Tait the CEO of Tangaroa Blue Foundation said: “Given the success of Ditch the Flick campaigns in Queensland where it was first implemented, it is hoped it will be as effective here”.
The Let’s Strain the Drain project is supported by the Circular Economy Communities Fund, delivered by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government. The project is delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation with support from Wyndham City.