Case Study: A Butt Free Byron

Background

Since 2012 we've collected over 400,000 pieces of debris from beaches across the Byron Shire in New South Wales. This is an incredible number considering that we don’t extrapolate our data and that all of our surveys only take place fortnightly covering a 200m x 20m area. People often ask how we can collect so much rubbish from such a small area and the answer largely lies in what you see in the photograph below.

Cigarette butts dominated Main Beach in Byron Bay prior to our Butt Free Byron initiative.

Our Byron Bay Coordinator Zoe White, unveiling our ‘Butt Free Byron’ joint initiative with Byron Shire Council and other local groups, which commenced as ‘Smoke Free Beaches’ in 2017.

Prior to our Butt Free Byron initiative, Cigarette butts on Main Beach in Byron Bay were out of control. If you took a walk through Apex Park or on Main Beach at any time of the day you would find literally hundreds, if not thousands of cigarette butts littering the ground. Not only did this reflect poorly on the town, affecting locals and visitors alike, however it also has an enormous effect on the ocean, with Cape Byron Marine Park just a stone's throw away.

On average, our team had collected between 3-400 cigarette butts per survey from the 200m area that we covered prior to the Butt Free Byron campaign. With the impact that toxic chemicals and plastic butts have on marine ecosystems, only just starting to be fully understood, the reality of the damage that butts can have on the environment is far greater than most would have imagined.

Some of the cigarette butts our team finds in our weekly surveys on Main Beach in Byron Bay

It's estimated that 4.5 trillion butts are discarded every year and that, "One solid filter ends up being thousands of tiny fibres that can be released into the marine environment" (article below), having untold impacts on marine life. There have also been studies undertaken into how one smoked cigarette butt in a single litre of water is sufficient to kill both marine and freshwater fish.

With the enormous amounts of cigarette butt litter our team were finding in the Byron Shire, we decided that enough was enough and, with the support of the Byron Bay community and Byron Shire Council we pushed for BUTT-FREE BYRON BEACHES and won!

BUTT FREE BYRON

In 2017/18, alongside Byron Shire Council and a range of partners including the Australian Lifeguard Service North Coast, Cape Byron Marine Park, National Parks and Wildlife Service North Coast Branch, North East Waste and Reflections Holiday Parks (with financial support from the NSW EPA), the Butt Free Byron initiative:

Ran beach clean-ups (including an enormously successful clean up with Seaside Scavange removing 403kg of rubbish), educational programs, community litter hotspot surveys and film screenings, engaging thousands of locals and visitors in the project;
Replaced 27 existing butt bins with 128 Enviropole bins (led by Byron Shire Council);
Pushed Council to amend their ‘Smoke Free Outdoors Policy’ to include banning smoking on beaches, paving the way for Butt Free Beaches across the Shire;
Ran 6 enforcement blitzes with BSC rangers and staff to positively engage smokers in the issue and make them aware of the impacts of butt litter, as well as the new enforcements actions around cigarette butts and smoking on beaches;
Ran monthly local litter checks with BSC in 26 butt litter hotspots throughout the Shire, providing valuable baseline data to measure the programs success.

SUCCESSES

Over an 18-month period, the Butt Free Byron initiative led to a:

78% decrease in the number of smoking related items - The baseline data averaged 728 smoking items Shire wide. Our follow up data averaged 268 littered items Shire wide!
69.9% reduction in the number of all littered items - The baseline data averaged 892.5 littered items Shire wide. Our follow up data averaged 268 littered items Shire wide!
25.1% reduction in cigarette butt litter - The percentage of smoking related items (compared to Beverage, Takeaway and Other items in the Local Litter Check) reduced from 83.5% to 62.25%!
31.7% reduction in litter volume - The baseline data averaged 2.58L Shire wide. Our follow up data averaged 1.76L Shire wide!
Average user survey score of 62/100 raised to 82/100 post-project!

The Butt Free Byron pilot project was an enormous success and we’re excited to take this project to other locations across New South Wales, Queensland and beyond!

Keep an eye out for our Butt-Free Beaches team, activities and events in the Byron Shire and watch this space as the program expands to our other locations across Australia!