OCEAN CITY – Officials in Ocean City are looking to use grant funding to launch a program that will reduce cigarette litter at the Inlet during special events.
In a Coastal Resources Legislative Committee, or Green Team, meeting Wednesday, Sandi Smith of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program shared her efforts to secure a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grant that would be used to establish ash receptacles at the Inlet during special events.
Each year, Keep America Beautiful awards grant money to governments, business improvement districts, downtown associations and other organizations to implement a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. The goal of the grant is to educate smokers on the proper disposal of cigarette butts and eradicate litter.
Smith said the receptacles could be tied to poles during special events at the inlet and will be emptied each night.
“These are collected,” she said. “You use the UP code on your phone, they send you a shipping label, it goes to TerraCycle and they recycle the cigarette butts.”
Smith said the grant could help the town to reduce cigarette litter frequently found at the Inlet parking lot during and after special events. She said smoking is currently banned on the Boardwalk, but not in the Inlet parking lot.
“I was trying to make a user-friendly program that could focus on special events,” she said.
Smith added the receptacles could come with sponsorship and informational opportunities.
“These, when you buy them, have a message on it,” she said. “So we can either get a sponsor to message it or it can say ‘the Green Team encourages you to do the right thing. Your butts will be recycled.’”
Public Works Director Hal Adkins asked what the grant included.
“Is there a specific dollar amount or specific number of receptacles?” he said.
Smith said she had applied for 50 receptacles.
“I’m sure I can get volunteers from the Coastal Bays Program that would be happy to go down and attach and empty them,” she said.
Smith noted the grant also encouraged recipients to measure cigarette litter before and after the program is implemented.
“With any grant you get, the end part of it is you have to demonstrate to them what we are going to continue to do once funding runs out,” she said.
Councilman Tony DeLuca, chair of the Green Team, asked Adkins how much cigarette litter the public works department collected.
“Have you seen a noticeable reduction on the Boardwalk?” he said.
Adkins said while the number of cigarette butts found on the Boardwalk had decreased, he saw no overall change in cigarette litter. He said the smoking ban on the Boardwalk pushed people onto the beach and side streets.
“You won’t believe the hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts we collect every summer,” he said.
Billy Weiland of Assateague Coastal Trust applauded the potential program.
“It shows we are serious about a trash and littering issue that is invasive,” he said.
While the town has yet to receive grant funding, Smith said the program could have long-lasting applications should it be implemented.
“It’s something the Downtown Association could take a step further or maybe hotels and various venues down the streets would sponsor it …,” she said.
DeLuca applauded Smith’s efforts.
“I like it,” he said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
