Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
Just a thought here- and I could be completely wrong.... but do we see very few public ashtrays now compared to before because they were not effective?
At my last job they had designated smoking areas; away from the doors. Mounted on the wall were something call "Butt Stop" ashtrays- with small holes big enough to drop the entire butt into. Some of my friends smoke, and when I would be out there my observation was that very few people used the ashtrays- instead they decided to flick their butt.
Could it be that they determined that public ashtrays don't significantly reduce the amount of litter?
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I think that's a valid question and observation.
I'm no "Authority" of course, But I think the question you pose boils down to Culture. When Smoking was more accepted and if I dare say, the norm, I think smokers behaved much differently than they do now.
Back in the day, a smoker would approach a building and "Butt" his cig. in the ashtray, on his or her way into the building. Over the past couple of years I think there might have developed a "what am I supposed to do?" attitude, If there's no ashtray, then the smoker will extinguish the offensive smoldering object in the most convienient and effective way available. IE Drop it on the ground and grind it with his or her foot.
I honestly don't believe that somebody did a study and determined that visible ashtrays are not being used, so.... "Let's get rid of them". If the Ashtrays of 3 or so years ago were still in place, and the City Introduced these new littering fines, I'm sure you'd notice a different "Culture" of smokers would soon emerge.
Keep in mind, In no way does my above comment explain why a smoker would chose to flick his "butt" as opposed to easily dropping it into a "butt stop". They must be the ones that are too cool for school.