Hey dirty old man!

Just shoot it away or kick it out. Throwing our cigarette filters on the street, in the green, or in the drain is a habit we need to change as soon as possible. Every cigarette butt is one too many. It's not only dirty, but it's also extremely bad for the environment and our health. Hey DirtyThe campaign aims to combat the enormous amount of cigarette filters on the streets, highlight their social undesirability, and change smokers' behavior.

Cigarette butts pollute, even when you don't see them

Environmental coach Nelleke Hey Viespeuk

Cigarette butts may seem small, but they cause significant damage. They pollute water and soil, and contain toxins that are harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. That's why Hey Dirty The attention of smokers and non-smokers alike. With this campaign, we highlight the harm cigarette butts can do and why it's time to do something about it.

Campaign for behavior change

Hey Dirty Shows how harmful cigarette butts are on the street, in drains, or in green spaces. With the "Hey Dirty Cigarette" campaign on social media, on municipal websites and pages in local newspapers, with flyers and posters on the streets, at bus stops and stations, and in newsletters, we raise awareness about the problem of cigarette butts and help residents discover what they can do themselves.

Take the cigarette butt 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 butt quiz and test your knowledge about cigarette filters and their environmental impact. Afterwards, you'll immediately see what you got right, what you didn't—and why. In just a few minutes, you'll learn how harmful a small cigarette butt can be.

Tackle cigarette butts with the Toolkit

Prevent cigarette butts from littering the streets around your business park, club, or organization. Especially for entrepreneurs and sports clubs, there's a free cigarette butt service. Bye Dirty ToolkitHere you'll find a poster, flyer, social media posts, and ready-made texts for your website, for example. So you have everything you need to take action against cigarette butt litter.

Download the toolkit here

 

FAQ

Cigarette butts on the streets are extremely harmful to nature. They contain toxins like 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 don't disappear. They leach into the soil and water, where they harm people, animals, plants, and the resources we rely on. Every cigarette butt on the streets therefore contributes to lasting pollution. Therefore, cigarette butts belong in the trash, not in nature.

On average, a cigarette butt remains in nature for 12 to 15 years. But even when the filter breaks down, the harmful substances remain. These slowly leach into the soil and water. And the filter? It turns into microplastics that never disappear. You might not see the cigarette butt you throw on the street—but it continues to harm nature.

An average of 845.000 tons of cigarette filters end up in the environment worldwide every year. All those butts are full of toxic substances like arsenic (rat poison), lead, and cellulose acetate. Exposure to arsenic can damage your nervous system and cardiovascular system. Lead impairs children's brain development, and even small amounts of nicotine pollute our aquatic ecosystems.

The filters themselves are made of plastic: cellulose acetate. Because of this, they don't biodegrade, but slowly degrade into microplastics. This is how they end up in the soil and our water—and ultimately even in our own bodies. A single cigarette butt pollutes 8 liters of groundwater. And with millions of cigarette butts thrown away every day, the damage is almost impossible to estimate.

The best place for your cigarette butt is a cigarette butt collection column: a special ashtray on the street intended solely for cigarette filters. Because it contains no other waste, the column is fireproof and ensures everything is properly collected.

No cigarette butt collection point nearby? Then thoroughly stub out your cigarette and throw it in a regular trash can. Even more convenient is a portable ashtray: a small, secure container where you can store your cigarette butt until you dispose of it at home. This way, you prevent litter, wherever you are.

No, that's not allowed. A cigarette butt in the sewer is extremely harmful. Much wastewater is later treated for drinking water, but the toxins from cigarette filters are difficult to filter and thus end up in the environment and ultimately in humans.

Moreover, water from street drains often flows directly into ditches, canals, or rivers. This is how cigarette butts end up in the habitats—or even in the stomachs—of aquatic and land animals. So always throw your cigarette butts in a designated waste bin, trash can, or use a pocket ashtray. This prevents unnecessary pollution.

Worldwide, approximately 4,5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded each year. A large portion of these end up in nature. It's estimated that billions of butts end up in oceans, rivers, streets, and other public spaces every year. In the Netherlands, for example, an estimated 10 billion cigarettes are smoked annually, a significant portion of which end up in nature. 

  • Cigarette butts make up approximately 30-40% of all litter worldwide. 
  • Cigarette butts are the most commonly found litter item during cleanups of beaches and public spaces. 
  • Each cigarette butt can contain thousands of toxic chemicals, which are harmful to the environment. 

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

The most contaminated places with cigarette filters are often the busiest areas, such as: 

  • In city centers and village centers near shops and on squares 
  • In industrial areas around companies where employees smoke. 
  • Around parking lots, train stations and bus stops. 
  • In entertainment areas, in streets and on squares near bars and restaurants. 
  • In parks and recreation areas where people relax. 
  • Around secondary schools and sports clubs.