BaitTanks hit Santa Monica Pier

I just returned from the Santa Monica Pier on this clear and cold morning. The pier was empty - it was closed off in preparations for the upcoming Rose Bowl pep rallies. So, I was able to take in the whole pier with the majestic winter sea in the background and check out the BaitTanks. Eric, the pier maintenance manager, showed me around and told me the receptacles are already getting use!



The City of Santa Monica recently banned smoking on the entire pier for several reasons. The main reason is fire prevention. In 2010, there were a couple crazy fires that were started when tossed cigarette butts got lodged in between the pier planks. In order to communicate the new smoking ban AND offer their visitors a safe place to deposit their butts, the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation turned to the BaitTank.



You will notice slightly different messaging on these BaitTanks. On the front, we communicate the dangers of cigarette butts to a wooden pier, and on the side we have the established "Fish-Saved Meter" to communicate the dangers of cigarette butts to marine life. Thanks to all those who helped with the messaging, especially the City of Santa Monica Economic Development Department and Heal the Bay. Thank you also to Neal Shapiro of the Santa Monica Office of Sustainability and Environment.



I am thrilled to have BaitTanks in my hometown, on the world famous Santa Monica Pier, where millions of visitors from all over the world will use them and learn from them.





Happy New Year!
Mark

post rain butt surfing

pardon me losing my breath as I chase this butt down toward the ocean :) 2011 will bring a stricter exercise routine!

A Butt-iful Day

We are on day three of storms in the Los Angeles area - and while the rain is nice, the waterways, ocean, and beach get left with our crap...check out these videos:












While these videos are alarming and disheartening, we have solutions!!
-- We can refuse single-use plastics
-- We can work with companies on product stewardship and extended producer responsibility (Jon and I do this at Greenopolis)
-- We can install BaitTanks to attract cigarette butt litter (they have reduced butt litter by 60% in Capitola and Santa Cruz)

Here is a Camel cigarette butt, produced by RJ Reynolds - Steve Strawsburg, their head of CSR, has admitted to me that butt litter is a problem and I look forward to working with him on solutions.



Thanks to Jon and Dixie for joining me -- together we can all get this gone...