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Information on the Cigarette Butt Initiative

Cigarette butt? Stomp it out. Throw it in. This is the slogan we use to keep cigarette butts off the streets in downtown Zevenbergen.

Collaboration with the Institute for Nature Conservation Education

The municipality of Moerdijk is collaborating with the Institute for Nature Conservation Education (IVN) on a campaign to tackle cigarette butts in the center of Zevenbergen. This collaboration arose from joint efforts within the Clean Maas Delta initiative. The campaign is financially supported by a grant from the European Treasure project and the province of North Brabant.

This project was initiated by a request from IVN to the municipality of Moerdijk to identify a waterfront location where there are a lot of cigarette butts. Many cigarette butts are found on the streets around the port of Zevenbergen. Cigarette butts are harmful to the environment and should not end up on the streets or in the water. That is why we are working together to prevent this from happening.

Collaboration with Stakeholders

This approach was developed in collaboration with business owners in downtown Zevenbergen. In addition, the climate mayors and residents who are actively working to combat litter are also involved in this effort. With this broad input, ANDC (an agency specializing in behavioral change and concept development) developed the campaign. Together, we’re tackling the nuisance caused by cigarette butts with the slogan “Cigarette done? Stub it out. Throw it away.”

What do we hope to achieve with the cigarette butt initiative?

The goal of the campaign is for residents to extinguish their cigarette butts and then throw them in the trash can. In our communications, we focus on raising awareness and facilitating the desired behavior: throwing cigarette butts in the trash can. Many people are unaware that this is actually allowed. The trash cans themselves have therefore been modified with a special metal stub-out plate. We are implementing this approach in downtown Zevenbergen and hope to see positive results.