Photo: Marjolijn Dannenburg This is the outcome of a study conducted by the WUR Green Impact team, headed by Marjolijn Dannenburg of the WUR Environmental Sciences Group (ESG). She conducted two searches over the past months. The most intensive one was in May when she searched the campus for stubs every day for twenty days. The yield was a shocking 8591stubs.
Environmental cleaner
Dannenburg has been picking up litter for years. On Terschelling during holidays, and in the city with “Schoon Wageningen”. Her commitment to picking up stubs began when she found no less than 300 stubs during a walk along the Bornsesteeg shortly after the smoking ban on campus was put in place. A mission was born.
She records the found litter in the app Litterati. The data was included in the report The butt in the drain, the unwanted side-effects of a smoke-free campus. The report contains many colourful maps of stub-hotspots, among which the Bornsesteeg near the entrance to Unifarm.
In secret
The parking lot behind Zodiac comes in second, most likely due to the construction of Aurora. Campus Plaza is also high on the list, as is the area around the Leeuwenborch. Smoking is usually done in secret. Dannenburg says smokers hide their stubs, but she knows where to look. ‘At the edge of the campus, in between cars and near the drains.’
Smokers hide their stubs in nooks and crannies or leave them out among the green. Not only causing litter, but also damaging the environment. In the report she wrote in collaboration with colleague Kryss Waldschlager, the negative impact is described in detail. Not only are the (plastic) stubs not biodegradable, they also leak hundreds of different toxins into the environment.
A stub may be small, but there are many, and they contain lots of substances that are harmful to the environment.
Marjolijn Dannenburg, Green Impact team WUR
Dannenburg thinks smokers are not aware of this. She wants WUR to start a campaign to call attention to the environmental impact of discarded cigarette butts. ‘Butts are bad. They may be small, but there are many, and they contain lots of substances that are harmful to the environment.’
Clarity
She calls for clearer borders of the smoke-free zone. ‘The Erasmus University has marked the area with blue lines. To prevent littering, bins have been placed outside of the smoke-free zone for the stubs.’ Moreover, whether or not the ban on smoking applies to Campus Plaza is unclear. ‘The area is not part of the campus and is, therefore, subject to its own regulations. But this is not stated anywhere.’
Dannenburg has a simple solution for smokers: the stub pocket. A small pouch made of flame retardant material in which you can carry your stubs. Available from her for 55 cents. Dannenburg: ‘We have managed to convince dog owners to scoop their pooch’s poop into plastic bags. It must be possible to achieve the same for cigarette butts.’
