More than 14,200 cigarette butts were picked up from city streets yesterday during the Cairns Community Big Butt Hunt.
The third annual Big Butt Hunt – hosted by No More Butts, Cairns Regional Council and Clean Up Australia – saw 41 volunteers from 6 teams search CBD streets for cigarette butts between Cairns Central and Cairns Esplanade.
Volunteers from AFL Cairns and the AFL Umpires Association joined community members, and staff from Cairns Regional Council, Councillors Rob Pyne and Trevor Tim along with the Gimuy Rangers in bagging thousands of butts.
Councillor Rob Pyne was in attendance and remarked that the Big Butt Hunt was an engaging way for people to show pride in their community and tidy up their local suburb.
"The cigarette butt hunt was a great way to bring the community together on Clean Up Australia Day" Cr Pyne said.
"We want to wish Clean Up a happy 35th birthday and thank them for their efforts over such a long period of time.
"Getting involved in a Clean Up in your area is a great way to get out, meet your neighbours and help our environment.
"With the recent weather events, it's even more important for us to pick up rubbish on land before it gets washed out to sea."
Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia, said: "Clean Up Australia has a rich history of mobilising communities to take practical action to Clean Up the mass amount of litter and waste that makes its way into our waterways and other natural surroundings.
"We know that 35 years on from when my father, Ian Kiernan AO, started this iconic organisation, our fight against litter is nowhere near over.
"We also know that as a society we need to shift our habits to consider litter prevention and best practice to stop it from entering our environment in the first place."
No More Butts founder Shannon Mead estimates over 800,000 cigarette butts are littered in Cairns every week.
"Last year, the Environment Minister highlighted cigarette butts as one of the most common types of rubbish found in the marine environment and also that marine debris is one of the biggest threats facing the Great Barrier Reef," Mr Mead said.
"Littering of these toxic microplastics is not only terrible to look at but also causes significant damage to our environment."
"With 40% of littered cigarette butts ending up in our waterways, there is a heightened threat of marine debris and also an impact on the water quality – both vital elements for the health of the Reef."
As part of the 2023 Big Butt Hunt, No More Butts partnered with Dr Elsa Antunes from James Cook University to create biochar from the cigarette butts collected. The research paper just released has shown some promising results.
