Remove thousands of cigarette butts from the environment, raise awareness among citizens and smokers about the damage caused by cigarette butts dispersed in the ecosystem, and shine a spotlight on one of the most prevalent and underestimated types of waste in cities, on beaches, and in waterways.
This is the goal of the large-scale national mobilization "The Planet is Not an Ashtray," promoted by Plastic Free Onlus and scheduled for June 6 and 7 (on the occasion of World Environment Day and World Oceans Day). Sardinia will participate with 17 events. The Northeast province remains the most attended, with six events scheduled in the municipalities of Olbia, Golfo Aranci, Aglientu, Badesi, Arzachena, and Santa Teresa Gallura. Other events will involve Nuoro, Vallermosa, Porto Torres, Alghero, Sinnai, Ales, Cagliari, Stintino, Sennori, Sassari, Sestu, and Castelsardo, demonstrating a growing environmental awareness that unites local communities, citizens, and institutions.
The volunteer association, committed to combating plastic pollution since 2019, will involve thousands of volunteers, municipal administrations, schools, businesses, and associations in dozens of environmental cleanups dedicated exclusively to collecting discarded cigarette butts. Cigarette butts are one of the main sources of microplastics dispersed into the environment: filters made of cellulose acetate, a synthetic plastic that can take over ten years to degrade, progressively fragment into invisible micro- and nanoplastics. According to international estimates, approximately 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded worldwide every year.
In Italy, over 70 billion cigarettes are smoked each year, and a significant portion of the filters end up on streets, sidewalks, drains, beaches, and waterways. A single cigarette butt can contaminate up to 500 liters of water, releasing nicotine, heavy metals, and toxic substances that are highly harmful to aquatic ecosystems. "We all have the right to live in a clean and healthy environment, but we are also primarily responsible for this," says regional coordinator Francesca Carone. "Respect for sidewalks, roads, squares, parks, beaches, and forests depends solely on us and our daily actions. Those who throw cigarette butts, paper, or any other waste on the ground forget that public property belongs to everyone. Change comes from small, everyday actions and respect for what belongs to us all."
