Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary was established in 2003. Over the 15 years of its existence, the variety of marine, bird and indigenous plant life has increased dramatically. It is increasingly becoming an important breeding ground for numerous fish and marine life not seen in Port Phillip Bay for years. As a marine sanctuary, all marine animals and plant life are protected and may not be caught or removed from the Sanctuary.

Unfortunately, the prevalence of cigarette butts as litter has grown alarmingly over the past few years at the Ricketts Point beaches. The action of dropping a butt on the ground and stamping it out with the foot then leaving it there has become all too common place. Even when bins are within arm’s length, smokers still drop them on the ground. It has become ‘their’ acceptable behaviour. This results in tens of thousands of butts littered all over our sanctuary beaches, car parks and foreshore areas each year.

When I have seen smokers stand watching the ocean and then stub their butts on the ground, turn around and get back into their cars, I have offered to pick up their butts and place them in the bins right nearby. Recently I saw a grandmother flick a butt still alight into the bushes as she pushed her grandchild along the path. I went and retrieved it and let her know I was putting it in the bin for her. If this happened during a dry summer, plants would easily catch alight and burn the vegetation - who knows where that would lead.  In addition, during rainfall, the storm water drains then wash this toxic litter down on to the beach and into the ocean.

It would be unacceptable for any other product but somehow smokers have made this appear normal behaviour. Only 12% of the population smokes, yet those small number of people cause a large environmental pollution problem for the other 88%. This is not acceptable. 

Throughout 2018 we collected over 12,000 cigarette butts in the Ricketts Point beach area…..and that was only the ones we got to during once per month collections covering a small area of beach each time. If we extrapolated those figures to cover the whole of the sanctuary it would be more likely double or triple, quadruple that number, or even more.....easily 60,000 butts in this small area which is supposed to be a Marine Sanctuary! 

Used cigarette butts are not just pieces of non-biodegradable plastic. They also contain the carcinogens, nicotine and toxins found in all tobacco products.  One cigarette butt soaked in a litre of water for 96 hours leaches out enough toxins to kill half of the fresh or salt water fish exposed to them. Cellulose acetate fibres in a cigarette filter are thinner than sewing thread and a single filter contains more than 12,000 of these fibres. The butts break down into individual fibres when soaked in water. We know that children and animals consume these pieces of toxicity, and that there are costs to the communities that must deal with them. So many cigarette butts tossed into the environment each year leach out chemicals that impact human health, and we have seen animals mistakenly eat them and feed them to their babies, who in turn die a slow and very agonising deaths.

We are calling to have smoking banned in all the surrounding areas - beach, car parks, park lands - so that smokers cannot just rock up in their cars (often sit with their engines running which additionally pollutes the air), smoke and flick their cigarette butts out the window, and then drive off. This has been allowed to continue for too many years and it is not good enough. It is just not working for our marine sanctuary. 

The Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary is a place for the environment to regenerate and for animals to be able to reproduce and care for their young safely without threat or harm. It is also a place where people come with their children and families, to enjoy the natural environment; play, walk, swim, snorkel, kayak, breathe fresh air and exercise. There is no place for smoking in and around Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary. This is why we are calling for a complete ban on smoking on the beaches, car parks and foreshore areas of the sanctuary. This has already occurred in many places around the world for the same very valid reasons. It needs to happen here as soon as possible.

References

https://www.verywellmind.com/world-cigarette-litter-facts-that-will-shock-you-2824735​

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51062567_Toxicity_of_cigarette_butts_and_their_chemical_components_to_marine_and_freshwater_fish​

https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/Suppl_1/i25​

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229750-200-time-to-kick-cigarette-butts-theyre-toxic-trash/​

https://www.beachpatrol.com.au/Cigarette-Litter​

https://www.tangaroablue.org/amdi/campaigns/110-cigarette-butt-litter.html​

https://blog.divessi.com/nationwide-smoking-ban-in-philippines-enforced-3095.html​

https://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/thailand-ban-on-smoking-on-beaches/​

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/safety/no-smoking-faqs​

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-29/helium-balloon-release-ban-for-cottesloe-council/8998678​

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/smoking-ban-at-24-beaches-in-15-coastal-provinces-takes-effect-on-feb-1/​

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/no-smoking-in-city-parks-says-newly-refreshed-bylaw​

http://www.b-e-a-c-h.org/smoke-free-beaches-stateparks.html