Lachine community group hopes pocket ashtrays are a solution to littered cigarette butts

There's one item that Femke Bergsma sees all too often when she leads her cleaning team in Lachine — cigarette butts.

It's an issue that stumps even the cleanest of cities. Montreal has installed public ashtrays across the island but Bergsma says there aren't enough.

"Most people are not aware. They smoke, they throw the butt on the ground and they don't think about it," Bergsma, who co-ordinates Éco-Quartier initiatives for local environmental group GRAME, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

Cigarette butts are primarily made of plastic and become toxic from the nicotine and tar they hold after they're smoked. When discarded, the butt breaks down into microplastics which eventually make their way into waterways and the food chain explained Bergsma.

It might be no surprise then to know that cigarette butts are the most abundant type of plastic waste in the environment.

"I'm really sick of eating plastic," she said.

Watch | GRAME and the Montreal Fire Department encourage use of pocket ashtrays:

To combat this, GRAME — which stands for Group of recommendations and actions for a better environment — is selling pocket ashtrays: a circular tin can with a twist top that can fit in the palm of your hand. The smoker can put out their cigarette in the ashtray and store the butt inside, before eventually dumping the contents in a trash can.

"Our end goal is to have every smoker in Lachine have a little ashtray in their pocket," said Bergsma.

Encouraging smokers to carry a pocket ashtray not only reduces potential harm to the environment, but also to others, explained Louise Desrosiers, the chief of fire prevention and community awareness training for the Montreal Fire Department.

"People that are throwing their butts everywhere in the city cause us a lot of problems," she said.

On average, there are 240 fires per year that are caused by improperly discarded cigarette butts according to Desrosiers. The fire department has already dealt with over 100 of these between January and June of this year.

Cigarette butts often ignite fires in bushes, on flower beds, outdoor planters and balconies, even if they take a while before becoming noticeable.

"It can take four to five hours before the first flame appears," said Desrosiers, adding that the summer heat raises the risk of fire.