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  • 23-06-2025

Together for a tobacco-free region: join in with Peukmeuk 2025!

Fags on the street? You really can't. On Saturday 5 July, it is time to do something about it together. Waardlanden and ABR Activatie will organise a street littering campaign in Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Molenlanden and Vijfheerenlanden. With this regional action, they join the global clean-up campaign PeukMeuk 2025, which calls attention to pollution caused by cigarette filters. Residents are urged to participate: collect dry cigarette butts and hand them in at one of the drop-off points on that day. In this way, together we will start the movement, step by step, towards a more conscious use of cigarette butts and a clean and safe region.

Butts: small waste, big pollution

What starts small grows into a major environmental problem. One cigarette filter pollutes as much as 8 litres of water and remains in nature for 12 to 15 years. During that time, toxic substances leak into the soil and water, harming animals, plants and people. Yet thousands of cigarette butts end up in the green, on the street or in the well every day.
'Many people don't think about how harmful such a small cigarette butt can be,' says environmental coach Nelleke Gouw of Waardlanden. 'But it's really shocking when you know what's inside: heavy metals, ammonia, arsenic, you don't want that in the environment. With PeukMeuk 2025 we don't just want to clean up cigarette butts, but above all make people aware and encourage them to change their behaviour. Because every cigarette that does not end up on the street makes a difference.

Cleaning up cigarette butts together and making them visible

Take action, collect dry cigarette butts and hand them in at one of the drop-off points in the region on 5 July. Of course, we will provide enough grabbers and gloves. During the clean-up campaign, the collected butts will not just be thrown away. They will be given a prominent place in the transparent No Waste Chair by artist Kees Dekkers. This chair made of recycled plastic has a capacity of 95 litres and literally shows how many cigarette butts end up in public spaces every day. The fuller the chair, the stronger the signal: this pollution must stop.

Submission deadline 5 July

Everyone can participate. Residents can start collecting dry cigarette butts in advance. Drop off the butts on 5 July at one of the following locations:

  • 09.30 - 10.30 am: Vianen - Voorstraat, near the town hall 
  • 11.30 am - 12.30 pm: Arkel - H. de Vriesplein shopping centre  
  • 13:30 - 14:30: Gorinchem - Schoutstraat, next to Piazza Center shopping centre  
  • 15:30 - 16:30: Hardinxveld-Giessendam - Passage between Dirk van den Broek and Albert Heijn store  

Free pocket ashtrays will also be handed out during the campaign, so that smokers can clean up their cigarette butts easily and neatly from now on.

Hey Pervert! - Behaviour change campaign

The clean-up campaign is part of the wider campaign Hey Pervert!. The campaign shows how harmful cigarette butts on the street, in the well or in the green spaces are. With eye-catching posters, flyers, social media and an online cigarette quiz, residents are challenged to test their knowledge and discover what they can do themselves. Together, we can change habits and contribute to a litter-free and clean region. Because throwing your cigarette butt on the street? No way!More information on the Hey Viespeuk campaign can be found here.

The main aim of Peukmeuk is to get cigarette butts off the streets and make people aware of the damage cigarette butts do to the environment. Through information and clean-up campaigns, we show how bad cigarette butts are for nature. Peukmeuk wants to ensure a clean and healthy living environment by making sure people dispose of their butts properly.

Around 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are thrown away worldwide every year. Much of this ends up in nature. According to estimates, billions of cigarette butts end up in oceans, rivers, streets and other public places every year. In the Netherlands, for example, it is estimated that around 10 billion cigarettes are smoked annually, a significant proportion of which ends up in nature.

Cigarette butts make up about 30-40% of all litter worldwide.

Butts are the most commonly found litter item during clean-ups of beaches and public areas.

Each cigarette butt can contain thousands of toxic chemicals that are harmful to the environment.

These figures highlight the scale of the problem and the need for initiatives such as Peukmeuk to reduce this waste.

The most polluted places with cigarette filters are the often busier areas, such as:

  • In town centres and village centres near shops and on squares
  • In industrial areas around companies where workers smoke.
  • Around train stations and bus stops.
  • In entertainment areas, in streets and squares near bars and restaurants.
  • In parks and recreational areas where people relax.
  • Around schools and sports clubs.

With the Hey Viespeuk campaign on social media, on municipal websites and pages in door-to-door newspapers, with flyers and posters on the street, at bus stops and stations and in newsletters, we inform residents about the problem of cigarette butts and how they can contribute to the solution. Please refer to the campaign page for detailed information worthlanden.co.uk/HeyViespeuk.
We work with volunteers and encourage residents to work together in neighbourhood teams to keep their neighbourhood clean. To do so, they can borrow materials from us, such as gloves, grabbers and a handy ZAP bucket. We work together with schools and have an educational programme to make children and young people aware of the impact of cigarette butts on the environment.