In neighborhoods like Fremont and Capitol hill it is no surprise that the bustling nightlife leads to a hefty amount of cigarette butt litter every morning. The burden of cleaning it up usually falls on business owners, who have to sweep the sidewalks day after day. However, both Red Star Taco bar in Fremont and Rockbox in Capitol Hill have teamed up with Surfrider Seattle by installing a Surfrider cigarette canister outside their business to both keep their sidewalks clean and help to prevent cigarette litter from reaching local beaches.
The sidewalks in front of Rockbox have been almost entirely cigarette butt free since the installment of the containers, reports the staff. It has saved them a lot of time and makes the entire business look more presentable.
The entrance to Rock Box was seeing hundreds of cigarette butts on the sidewalk before the canister.
The cigarette canister at Rock Box in Capitol Hill is now doing its job to attract smokers attention and prevent toxic, plastic litter from reaching our stormwater
Red Star Taco Bar in Fremont is loving the impact of their cigarette canister, and it looks great too!
At Red Star Taco Bar, staff was very enthusiastic about the new container. Before their installment sweeping up butts was a daily task. Now, there is significantly less cigarette litter, which requires a lot less maintenance. A waitress at Red Star says that she “is happy to have the container, because it doesn’t look good to have cigarette butts all over the ground” and her advice to any other businesses considering installing a container: “Do it! It makes your job a lot easier!”
A huge thank you to Rockbox and Red Star Taco bar for taking action and helping their neighborhood hold on to their butts!!
By Maeve Anderson