Good morning,
Attached is a press release from the city of St. Ingbert with a request for publication.
Committed people collected cigarette butts in St. Ingbert
The KlimaFit St. Ingbert and CleanUp Saarland initiatives, along with the adult education center, invited the public to participate in a cigarette butt collection campaign in St. Ingbert.
Heike Schröter, initiator and member of the KlimaFit initiative, welcomed the dedicated participants in front of the Engelbert Church: "I am very pleased that so many volunteers took the time this morning to collect carelessly discarded cigarette butts in the city center. My heartfelt thanks to all of them."
A total of 16 helpers had gathered, including members of the KlimaFit initiative and SaarCleanUp. Four citizens from St. Ingbert also took part in the action to set a visible sign for environmental awareness and a clean city. For the same reasons, Mayor Dr. Ulli Meyer came to the meeting point in front of Engelbert's Church and offered his assistance. “The action is intended to send a signal and raise awareness about the consequences of careless disposal of cigarette butts. The toxins from the stubs also end up in the water, where they release harmful chemicals. Just a single butt can contaminate more than 40 liters of groundwater,” warns Mayor Dr. Ulli Meyer. In this context, he once again points out the numerous ashtrays that have been specially installed in the city center on the lampposts above the trash bins.
Divided into small groups, the volunteers were active in the pedestrian zone, at the bus rendezvous point, in Rickertstraße, on Maxplatz, in Ludwigstraße, and in Gustav-Clauss-Anlage. The cigarette butts were lodged in rain gutters, joints, and manhole covers, but were also scattered in green strips and on lawns. Equipped with grabbers, gloves, and small buckets, the helpers collected more than 10,000 butts within two hours – a shocking number.
Every single cigarette butt is highly toxic
Every single cigarette butt is highly toxic and releases numerous harmful substances into the soil and groundwater. According to BUND, there are around 7,000 different toxins contained in a smoked cigarette. Additionally, the filter is made of plastic, which accumulates the toxins and enters the food chain as microplastic. Nevertheless, the problem is often downplayed by politics and society. In Saarland alone, about 1.7 million cigarette butts end up in the environment daily (Source: https://cleanup.saarland/2024/05/kippenaktionstag/). The goal of this cigarette butt collection campaign is to raise awareness of the harmful effects of recklessly discarding cigarette butts on our environment and to practically contribute to the protection of our groundwater and our livelihood.
Info ClimateFit Initiative
The KlimaFit initiative originated from a course at the Biosphären-VHS St. Ingbert in 2024. The "Climate Ambassadors" have been meeting once a month ever since to exchange ideas, engage collectively, and plan actions – all in the spirit of climate and environmental protection. One idea to be implemented this year is the procurement of planting containers with shade-giving shrubs, which provide crucial ecological and climatic benefits in the city center during high temperatures – ideally financed by sponsors. The members of the KlimaFit initiative would take care of the plants. In cooperation with HGSI St. Ingbert e. V., it has already been agreed that watering water will be provided by the surrounding shops. Anyone interested in joining the KlimaFit initiative can contact Heike Schröter
h-schroeter@gmx.de.
Further cigarette butt collection campaigns in the city center of St. Ingbert are planned for Saturday, June 6, and Saturday, September 12, each from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The meeting point is in front of the Engelbertskirche in the pedestrian zone.
Photo: Maria Müller-Lang
BU group photo: Also Mayor Dr. Ulli Meyer (r.) participated together with members of the KlimaFit St. Ingbert initiative, CleanUp Saarland, and dedicated helpers in the cigarette butt collection campaign in St. Ingbert.
Caption: More than 10,000 cigarette butts were collected within two hours in the city center area. (Photo: Heike Schröter)
