Hold On To Your Butt

Cleaning up smoking waste, one butt at a time.

Surfrider Foundation's Hold On To Your Butt (HOTYB) program aims to raise awareness about the environmental impact of cigarette butt litter on our oceans, waves and beaches, and to help eliminate cigarette butt litter once and for all.

Why are cigarette butts a problem?

Each year, an estimated 4.5 trillion cigarettes are littered into our environment. Cigarette butts are the most commonly collected item during beach cleanups, accounting for approximately one in every five items. Cigarette butts are made of plastic, which means they cannot biodegrade but will only break down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic. In addition to the physical litter, cigarette butts can leach toxic chemicals into our waterways and pose a major risk to wildlife.

Toxic smoking litter is costing us. It is time to end cigarette butt pollution once and for all.

How can you help?

Get informed! Learn more about cigarette butt pollution.
Join your local chapter and attend a HOTYB event
Hold your own Solo Butt Cleanup and share your data with Surfrider
Advocate for cigarette butt reduction legislation.

Find a Hold On To Your Butt Program Near You

Surfrider chapters have embraced the Hold On To Your Butt Program in slightly different ways. While some have installed their own ash can receptacles for volunteers to maintain, others have collaborated with local businesses or municipalities which have installed their own cans for preventing cigarette pollution. Some chapters also host cigarette-focused cleanups. Check out which chapters have a Hold On To Your Butt program, learn more about how they are fighting cigarette butt pollution and find out how to get involved.

Portland, OR
San Francisco, CA
Sonoma Coast, CA
San Francisco, CA
Ventura, CA

North Orange County, CA
Delaware
Bogue Banks, NC
Charleston, SC
Galveston, TX

Smoking Waste is Changing

As the public has become more educated about the health risks of smoking, people are making an effort to choose seemingly less harmful smoking options. This has led to a rise in traditional filtered cigarette alternatives, including electronic cigarettes, disposable vapes, and nicotine pouches. Unfortunately, the littering behaviors long associated with cigarette butts have extended to these alternatives as well.

Electronic Cigarette and Disposable Vapes

Around 500,000 disposable vapes are discarded in the United States each day. Electronic cigarettes are considered hazardous waste, due to both the liquid nicotine and lithium batteries.

Nicotine Pouches

An estimated 5.3 million used nicotine pouches are littered each year. These pouches retain a large amount of nicotine in them after they’ve been used, leaching toxic amounts into waterways and killing wildlife.