Redland City Council > Environment and waste > Waste > Rethink your Rubbish > Butt-free Redlands

Butt-free Redland

Coochiemudlo Island – Australia’s first ‘butt free’ island

Have you noticed the new cigarette butt bins on Coochiemudlo Island? They are part of a new campaign, aimed at making Coochiemudlo Australia’s first ‘butt free’ island. The campaign, launched on 15 April 2011, urges all smokers to take responsibility for their cigarette butt litter and understand the impacts discarded cigarette butts cause to marine habitats and wildlife.

Butt bins have been installed in locations around Coochiemudlo Island to provide a safe, appropriate and easily accessible way to dispose of cigarette butts and prevent butt litter from entering the environment and the waterways.

Did you know?

Cigarette butts are the most commonly found litter item.
1 in 10 cigarette butts end up in our waterways.
Cigarette butts are made of a plastic filament that can take up to 15 years to decompose.

Not near a butt bin? Use a butt ashtray!

Everyone wants to do the right thing, but sometimes it can be difficult if you are not near a bin. Smokers now have the opportunity to purchase a ‘personal ashtray’ to store used cigarette butts until they are near a bin.

Protecting Moreton Bay

Cigarette butts are a serious environmental hazard, and pose a severe threat to our marine habitats and to marine wildlife if ingested. The butt bins aim to encourage people to ‘do the right thing’ and dispose of cigarette butts responsibly. By preventing butt litter, this will help protect our beautiful and unique environment and wildlife of Coochiemudlo Island and Moreton Bay.

To help encourage this, Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland is providing personal ashtrays to businesses on Coochiemudlo Island and at Victoria Point for sale at $3 each.

Personal ashtrays are currently available for purchase at:

Coochiemudlo Island Beach Resort
Seminara Apartments
Victoria Point Kiosk Rock N Roll Café
Quirky Cottages

These personal ashtrays are small, compact and designed to give smokers a safe and easy way to correctly disposing of their cigarette butts – all the time. All proceeds from the sale of ashtrays go to Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland (a not-for-profit organisation).

Thank you for your feedback

Thank you for your feedback on our new butt bins.

Businesses interested in selling the personal ashtrays, or a local interested in promoting Butt Free Coochiemudlo, can contact Redland City Council on ph 3829 8166.

This new initiative is a partnership project of Redland City Council, Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland, Packaging Stewardship Forum and Healthy Waterways.

Local Law 14 - Potential changes to smoking at jetties

Council is proposing to introduce a new Local Law No. 14 (Jetties, Ramps and Ferries) 2011. The proposed law has been developed to address a number of issues affected Redlands’ jetties and ramps, in particular, health issues associated with smoking a public transport waiting areas on jetties. It will take into account public feedback from consultation held between 3 and 24 May 2011. Changes to the Tobacco Act 2008 have prompted the Local Law to be updated. This means that you will still be able to smoke on jetties in the Redlands with the exception of areas designated as public transport waiting points. These areas will be clearly signed.