14 Feb 2025
A new scheme aimed at tackling the scourge of cigarette litter is providing a quirky solution in the form of a Ballot Bin.
Working alongside SADC to maintain a clean and welcoming city centre, St Albans BID (Business Improvement District) has introduced this fun way to encourage behavioural change by encouraging smokers to dispose of butts in a bin instead of flicking them on the ground.
The Ballot Bin is a customisable ashtray, proven to reduce cigarette butt litter by up to 73 per cent.
Each Ballot Bin displays a question and two answers. Smokers vote by stubbing out their cigarette and putting butt in the slot underneath their preferred answer. The litter stacks up behind the clear glass front in two columns, showing which answer is more popular.
St Albans district council’s contractor will empty and dispose of the stubs every month, at which time the winning answer will be revealed.
BID manager Vivien Cannon said: “Over the course of the year we can move the location of the bin and spread the message and fun. The council’s bins already provide for smokers with a place to stub-out their cigarette and dispose of it appropriately. We’d like people to use them and keep our city free from unnecessary litter.”
The new bin has been initially installed near the Clock Tower, and the first question for this month of love is, “Favourite Gift? Chocolate or Flowers”.
The question will remain open until the end of February, but ‘chocolates’ is currently in the lead.
Studies show that proposals to decrease cigarette butt pollution have been largely ineffective, with cigarette butts consistently being the single most collected item in beach clean-ups and litter surveys, but smokers find the Ballot Bins much more engaging than alternative ashtrays and are more likely to use them.
