Nobody likes litter. However, it is easy to concede that public waste, from chewing gum to crisp packets and plastic bags, is an unfortunate reality of a disposable culture and a fast way of living. Cigarette butts, it is fair to say, can be some of the worst offenders.
This has especially been the case in countries that have outlawed smoking in enclosed public places – bars, restaurants and workplaces – as, with no place to go, people have naturally gravitated outside.
In Paris, which put in place a ban in 2008, there has been a proliferation of cigarette ends lining the streets. To tackle this, city officials are looking at adopting a number of solutions.
On the one hand innovation is at the heart of the clean-up. According to the city’s uber-green mayor Bertrand Delanoë, thousands of public ashtrays are to be placed across Paris.
Numbering some 10,000, the ashtrays will be dotted about in key locations, with a sizeable number being affixed to street bins.
While this is seen as a more accommodating approach, the other strategy is much tougher, representing a sort of good-cop, bad-cop tactic.
Mayor Delanoë has asked the government to give the go-ahead for fines to be increased €68 euros (approximately £42) for those caught discarding their cigarette ends in public.
Cadogan Tate can help expats moving to France with international removals.