The Huron County Health Unit is calling for your help to clean up cigarette butts on beaches.
Volunteers are needed for two beach clean-ups that will be held over the summer to raise awareness about the negative impacts that cigarette butt litter has on our environment. The first clean-up will be at the Grand Bend main beach on Tuesday, July 5th from 4:30-7 pm and the second will be at Goderich main beach on August 2nd from 5-6:30 pm.
“These are great opportunities for youth groups, sports teams and other members of the community to learn something new and make our communities cleaner, healthier places to live and play,” says Huron County Health Unit public health promotion student Michael Roy. Volunteers will work together to collect cigarette butts along the beach.
An average of 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide every year and they never completely decompose. Over 2,500 butts were collected at the Goderich beach during a previous butt clean-up. Roy says, “These littered butts then leach harmful chemicals into our waterways and soil. And it doesn’t stop there, cigarette butts have been found in the stomachs of fish and birds. They are also toxic when ingested by young children or pets.”
If you are interested in volunteering for a few hours for the beach clean-ups, contact Sam Docherty at 519-482-3416 x 2557 or sdocherty@huroncounty.ca.