NEWS RELEASE
April 21, 2021

For Immediate Release

BUTT BLITZ PROGRAM AIMS TO CLEANUP AND RECYCLE 1 MILLION CIGARETTE BUTTS ACROSS CANADA DURING EARTH MONTH

OSHAWA, ON. – A Greener Future, an Ontario based non-profit organization, is midway through their annual Butt Blitz program focused on the cleanup of littered cigarette butts across Canada. The Butt Blitz has been running each spring since 2015 and has resulted in over 1.5 million cigarette butts being removed from the environment and sent to TerraCycle for recycling.

Due to the pandemic, A Greener Future had to restructure the program to align with current restrictions. Usually, the event would be run as a one-day event where everyone could gather and pick up butts together in communities across Canada. This year, they have teams of 10 in a number of locations who are picking up butts independently to reach a team goal of 50,000 butts over the month of April. If all teams reach their goal, they’ll finish off Earth Month with a total of 1 million cigarette butts collected and recycled! As of April 20th, over 400,000 butts have been submitted by 150 volunteers.

“Cigarette butts are the number one item we pick up during litter cleanups,” said Rochelle Byrne, founder, A Greener Future. “They’re also very problematic when left in the environment because they leach toxins, polluting our water sources, and also break up into microplastics since the filters are made of a plastic filament.”

TRACK BUTT BLITZ PROGRESS

Throughout the Butt Blitz Event A Greener Future will be updating a dashboard daily to show progress toward the goal of picking up 1 million cigarette butts. Through this dashboard, viewers can see the total collected, total per team, number of participants, and hours dedicated to the cause.

To learn more about the Butt Blitz through A Greener Future’s Website:

https://www.agreenerfuture.ca/the-butt-blitz and visit A Greener Future on Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT A GREENER FUTURE

Founded in 2014, A Greener Future is a non-profit organization whose mission is to work within local communities to promote environmental protection through organized litter cleanups, educational programs, and events. A Greener Future is committed to creating a clean, healthy environment for future generations.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rochelle Byrne, Executive Director/Founder
705-791-5358 | rochelle@agreenerfuture.ca