South Kesteven District Council have installed a ‘ballot bin’ in Grantham town centre to tackle cigarette litter.
The interactive litter bin is intended to provide a ‘light hearted’ way to reduce the number of cigarette butts found on the street.
Smokers can vote on topical questions by dropping their butts into a bin corresponding with their chosen answer, for example, whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza.
Clear panels show which answer is leading in popularity and the council say that questions will be changed regularly.
Councillor Dr Peter Moseley, cabinet member for commercial and operations, told the Grantham Journal:
“We hope the light-hearted voting system will encourage people to use the bin to help keep the town centre looking its very best.
“People may not realise that cigarette filters contain plastics and other chemicals that don’t degrade, and these can be harmful to wildlife if they end up in surface water drains leading to rivers.
“So, despite our light-hearted approach, our message is clear: don’t drop litter.”
390 fixed penalty notices were issued by Kesteven Council to people dropping cigarette butts between August to the end of May last year, according to the Grantham Journal.
The majority of these were in Grantham, so Councillor Moseley hopes that these bins provide smokers with some incentive to dispose of their litter.
He added:
“Innovation like this reflects our commitment to a higher street standard throughout the district, which already consistently exceeds the national average.
“If the trial is a success, further bins could be installed in other areas.”
Source: Grantham Journal
