Wyndham smokers are being urged to ‘Ditch the Flick’ in a new campaign to bin cigarette butts in an effort to prevent them from ending up as litter on the ground or entering waterways waterways.
Wyndham council said a new campaign is already being promoted at Station Place in Werribee and
new cigarette butt bins have been installed at cigarette butt hotspots with clear directional signage.
Wyndham climate futures and environment portfolio holder Robert Szatkowski said the initiative was just one of many that council had put in place to encourage residents not to litter or dump rubbish.
“We all have a responsibility to keep our city clean and tidy and I encourage all our residents and visitors to help keep our city clean by using bins instead of littering,” Councillor Szatkowski said.
Wyndham council say they are the first local government in Melbourne to start implementing the ‘Ditch the Flick’ campaign in response to the previous research.
A four year collaboration with eight other councils involved the installation of drain traps to identify what was being washed into the stormwater system and Port Phillip Bay.
Cigarette butts were identified as the number one littered item entering the waterways.
Wyndham mayor Susan McIntyre, said she was proud to see Wyndham take the lead to keep our waterways and neighbourhoods clean.
“We take pride in keeping our city tidy and contributing to looking after our environment,” she said.
