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Environment

Cleaning Up Cigarette Butts in San Diego

Cleaning Up Cigarette Butts in San Diego
Environmental and community groups have started a program to clean up cigarette butts from the Pacific Beach neighborhood in San Diego. The the area is a major source of the litter.

Environmental and community groups have started a program to clean up cigarette butts from the Pacific Beach neighborhood in San Diego. The the area is a major source of the litter.

I Love A Clean San Diego, the Surfrider Foundation, the Pacific Beach Town Council and two other groups are trying to to prevent cigarette butts from reaching beaches and the ocean.

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The groups say thousands of cigarette butts tossed on city streets and sidewalks wind up in storm drains and pollute the marine environment. The butts also harm wildlife when filters are mistaken for food.

A pilot program in Pacific Beach is targeting the heavily populated area along Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard. The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program has placed labeled ash receptacles at targeted areas and are distributing pocket ashtrays to adult smokers.

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in America. During Coastal Cleanup Day in San Diego County last year, cigarette butts accounted for 43 percent of all the items collected.