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Smoke-Free Environments

Making Our Spaces Cleaner

Smoking isn’t just harmful to people—it’s devastating to the planet. Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world, with 122 tonnes of smoking-related litter dropped across the UK every day. From polluting our waterways to destroying forests, the environmental cost of smoking is far-reaching and urgent.

In 2019, cigarette butts were found on 79.6% of streets in Wales, making them one of the most pervasive litter problems in the country.

Why It Matters?

Cigarette Litter

Cigarette butts are not biodegradable. Each butt contains plastic filters and harmful chemicals such as arsenic, lead, and nicotine that can take up to 15 years to break down. These toxins pollute our land and water, endangering animals that may ingest them.

Wildlife Impact

Cigarette litter can be fatal to wildlife. Animals often mistake cigarette butts for food, leading to poisoning, starvation, or choking. A viral photograph of a bird feeding its chick a cigarette butt perfectly illustrates the heartbreaking consequences of smoking-related litter.

Deforestation

Tobacco farming is a leading driver of deforestation, with an estimated 200,000 hectares of forests and woodlands cut down annually to grow tobacco. This contributes to habitat loss, reduced biodiversity, and climate change.

FREE School Resource

Ready to train the next generation of eco-sleuths? Our free Pollution Detectives pack is bursting with games, team challenges and clue-hunting fun to help young people uncover the hidden impact of cigarette butts and vapes on the environment. Perfect for KS2 classrooms, after-school clubs and youth groups this lively, hands-on session gets everyone thinking, moving and protecting wildlife like true detectives.

Download This Resource

Get Involved

If you’re interested in joining or organizing a litter pick, spreading awareness through social media, or supporting our campaigns to tackle smoking-related litter, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us  communications@ashwales.org.uk or call 029 2049 0621.

Together, we can protect Wales’ natural beauty and reduce the environmental harm caused by smoking.

Download Our FREE Resources

We’d like organisations and individuals to share our environmental message and have a range of graphics which you can download.

English Social Media Graphics
Welsh Social Media graphics

Report From Marine Conservation Society

It’s easy to overlook a cigarette butt or a dropped vape but these small bits of litter are causing big problems. According to the Marine Conservation Society, they were found on more than half of UK beaches in 2024. These items don’t just disappear they wash into our rivers, pollute our seas, and harm birds and marine life.

Every stubbed-out cigarette and tossed-away vape adds up. By tackling this litter at its source, we can protect our natural spaces and reduce pollution. A cleaner, greener Wales starts with the choices we make.

Download The Report

Support Our Work

Support our campaigns to protect the environment from smoking-related harm and to provide education in schools and communities.

Donate