Hey pervert!

Just shoot away here or kick out. Throwing our cigarette filters on the street, in the green or in the well is a habit we should change as soon as possible. Every cigarette butt is one too many. Not only is it dirty, but it is also super bad for nature and our health. The Hey Pervert-campaign aims to counter the huge amount of cigarette filters on the streets, highlight social undesirability and change smokers' behaviour.

Fags pollute even if you don't see them

Poster Viespeuk

Fags may seem small, but they cause great damage. They pollute water and soil, and contain toxins that are bad for humans, animals and the environment. That is why Hey Pervert the attention of smokers and non-smokers alike. The campaign shows how harmful cigarette butts are and why it is time to do something about it.

Behaviour change campaign

Hey Pervert shows how harmful cigarette butts on the street, in the well or in green spaces are. With the Hey Viespeuk campaign on social media, on municipal websites and pages in door-to-door newspapers, with flyers and posters on the streets, at bus stops and stations and in newsletters, we inform people about the problem of cigarette butts and find out what they can do themselves.

Take the cigarette quiz

 Do you know what happens to a cigarette butt that ends up on the street? And how long it takes for such a filter to break down? Take the online cigarette quiz and test your knowledge about cigarette filters and their impact on the environment. Afterwards, you will immediately see what you got right, what you didn't - and why. So you can learn in a few minutes how harmful a small cigarette butt can be.

Tackle cigarette butts with the Toolkit

Prevent cigarette butts on the streets around your business park, club or organisation. Especially for entrepreneurs and sports clubs, there is the free Bye Dirty Toolkit. Here you will find a poster, flyer, social media posts and ready-to-use texts for your website, for example. So you have everything you need to take action against cigarette litter yourself.

Download the toolkit here

 

Frequently asked questions

Street cigarette butts are very harmful to nature. They contain toxic substances such as arsenic, nicotine, microplastics and cellulose acetate, which linger in the environment for a long time. Even if a cigarette butt slowly decomposes after 12 to 15 years, these toxins do not disappear. They leak into soil and water, where they harm people, animals, plants as well as the resources we live on. So every cigarette butt on the street causes lasting pollution. Therefore: cigarette butts belong in the dustbin, not in nature.

On average, a cigarette butt stays in nature for 12 to 15 years. But even when the filter breaks down, pollutants remain. These slowly leak into the soil and water. And the filter? That turns into microplastics that no longer disappear. You might not continue to see the cigarette butt you throw on the street - but nature will continue to suffer.

Every year, an average of 845,000 tonnes of cigarette filters end up in nature worldwide. All those cigarette butts are full of toxic substances such as arsenic (rat poison), lead and cellulose acetate. Exposure to arsenic can harm your nervous system and cardiovascular system. Lead affects children's brain development, and even small amounts of nicotine pollute our aquatic ecosystems.

The filters themselves are made of plastic: cellulose acetate. As a result, they do not biodegrade, but slowly disintegrate into microplastics. This is how they end up in the soil and in our water - and eventually even in our own bodies. A single cigarette butt already pollutes 8 litres of groundwater. And with millions of cigarette butts every day, the damage is hardly incalculable.

The best place for your cigarette butt is a cigarette pillar: a special ashtray on the street meant only for cigarette filters. As there is no other waste in it, the column is fireproof and everything is collected neatly.

No cigarette kiosk nearby? Then squeeze out your cigarette properly and throw it in a regular waste bin. Even more convenient is a portable pocket ashtray: a small, safe box where you keep your cigarette until you dispose of it at home. This way, you avoid littering wherever you are.

No, you can't. A cigarette butt in the sewer is hugely harmful. Much sewage is later purified for drinking water, but the toxins from cigarette filters are difficult to filter and thus end up in the environment and eventually in humans.

Moreover, water from street gullies often flows directly into ditches, canals or rivers. Thus, cigarette butts end up in the habitats - or even stomachs - of aquatic and terrestrial animals. So always dispose of your cigarette in a cigarette pillar, waste bin or use a bag ashtray. This way, you avoid unnecessary pollution.

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 spaces every year. In the Netherlands, for example, it is estimated that around 10 billion cigarettes are smoked every year, a fair share 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 car parks, 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 secondary schools and sports clubs.