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Did you know the beach is not an ashtray?

Posted on 2 m read

Did you know that cigarette butts are the main residue that pollute beaches worldwide? Get informed and learn why the beach should stop being an ashtray.

They seem harmless, and because of their appearance, cigarette butts seem to be biodegradable, but the truth is that they are a material that represents 25% of the total garbage on the beaches.

When in contact with water, filters and cigarettes pollute with toxic substances such as nicotine and tar, as well as heavy metals like lead, nickel, arsenic and cyanide. A single cigar butt can contaminate up to 25 liters of water and take up to 15 years to decompose!

Although in nature these minerals are essential, when its quantity in the oceans is modified and artificially increased, it is harmful for the species that inhabit them. Some animals can confuse cigarette butts (and plastics!) with food and seriously damage its health, or die.

So now, you can surely imagine how easy it is for these metals to infiltrate the food chain after reaching the ocean, right?

Some shores in the world already implement initiatives to have smoke-free coastal zones with informative nature, for instance, smokers are not punished but there’s an initiative used to promote a healthy way of life and respect for the environment.

Last june to fight against this habit, all in Sandos hotels of the Riviera Maya (Sandos Caracol, Sandos Cancun and Sandos Playacar) we adopted one more commitment to our environment: picking up the cigarette butts on the beaches.

The base project is called “Proyectos con Madre”, thanks to this idea we have achieved our first delivery of 40 kilograms of filters and cigar butts. And we’re about to accomplish the second one and you can help! Just deposit your cigarette butt in special bins at the Sandos hotels in Mexico and that’s it!

On the other hand, if you are a smoker, we remind you that throughout our facilities we have specific areas destined to smoke without a problem were this special bins are found, even at the beach! So there is no excuse.

Also, if you want to be a responsible traveler, whenever you go to a shore (whether you are a smoker or not), collect the butts you see and take them to a dry bin. Together we can make a better world!

Choose hotels that have strong environmental and sustainability policies and join sustainable tourism.

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