South Grand and St. Louis Earth Day Partner to Eliminate Cigarette Butts

Saturday Cleanup Kicks Off Cigarette Recycling program in South Grand

In an effort to eliminate street-side litter, South Grand is announcing the launch of a community-wide cigarette recycling program. The program kicks off with a Beautification and Cigarette Blitz Day, a volunteer-based cleanup targeting both the street-side cigarette urns as well as any littered cigarette butts around the six-block business district. South Grand will send the collected cigarette waste to TerraCycle for recycling.

According to Keep America Beautiful, each year 3.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide, making them the most littered item in the world. By partnering with St. Louis Earth Day’s Recycling on the Go Program, South Grand is aiming to eliminate cigarette waste, targeting the 15 cigarette urns placed throughout the district as well as any littered butts around the six block business district. The collected waste will be mailed to TerraCycle for recycling.

The Beautification and Cigarette Blitz Day marks the start of South Grand’s participation in TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade, a nationwide, mail-in cigarette recycling program. The cigarette waste collected in the program is recycled into a plastic material to be used for industrial products such as plastic shipping pallets.

Executive Director of the South Grand Community Improvement District, Rachel Witt, is proud to add an additional green initiative to South Grand, a district that currently utilizes features such as rain gardens, pervious concrete sidewalks, native plants and solar panels.

St. Louis Earth Day’s Recycling On the Go is the region’s first large-scale event greening program, working the the St. Louis region since 2006. Their goal is to reduce the negative environmental impact of events and festivals by reducing
and recycling a portion of the waste generated.

For more information contact:
Rachel Witt
rachel@southgrand.org
(314) 772-5750