The Public Marina now has two cigarette recycling bins to keep cigarettes from ending up in the bay. Eco Eureka’s environmental program and PacOut Green teamed up to get funding from the Storm Water Division. In effort, to reduce the water waste and help improve storm quality. The City of Eureka’s Program Coordinator, Robin Praszker says the cigarette bud receptacles are a trial to see if modifications will be needed in the future.
The bins are checked regularly and cleaned out as needed. Instead of throwing the butts away, they will be mailed out to TerraCycle to compost remaining tobacco, paper, and the plastic cigarette filters. Robin Praszker says, “They are really problematic because they have plastic in the filter and then all the toxins from the tobacco from the nicotine and all the other chemicals as well. They are small and they are common and they all make it in our water ways really easily. So, it is really important that we all become conscious of what keeping eureka clean means especially when it comes to cigarette butts. So really trying to educate and encourage people to have good behavior if they do choose to smoke cigarettes.”