Cigarette butt bin vote should help to reduce litter

Arun District Council is trialling ‘ballot bins’ which feature a topical question and smokers then choose the answer by which area they place their cigarette butt.

The council tweeted: “#Arun can now vote on burning issues by putting their cigarette ends in a Ballot Bin which have been proven to reduce cigarette litter by engaging smokers.

“Questions will be updated regularly on the bins, and so will the locations.

“Keep your eyes peeled.”

A council spokesperson confirmed: “We are trialling them at the moment in East Preston and Bognor Regis to see if a different approach encourages people to not drop their cigarette ends.

“We will be working with Bognor Bid and East Preston Parish Council to decide the questions.

“We will keep an eye on them to see the usage and how often they need emptying etc.

“At the moment they seem to be working well.”

The ballot bin is a customisable ashtray, proven to reduce cigarette butt litter by around 50 per cent, according to the company providing them, and smokers find the bins much more engaging than alternative ashtrays.