Since Monday at Stars’N’Bars, it is possible to have a beer or a soda for free. The deal? Bring a pot, lent by the establishment of Monaco, filled with cigarette butts.
This is a campaign that has gone beyond borders. The initiative of this project – a Spanish bar, Tibu-Ron in Barcelona. The idea is simple: the bar agrees to offer a glass of beer (25 cl) to anyone who brings back a pot filled with cigarette butts picked up here and there. Or a soda for minors. Since Monday, Stars’N’Bars is the first Monegasque restaurant to join the movement.
“A PLAYFUL, NON-GIVING LESSON”
“It does not happen a day without anyone seeing someone throw a butt on the floor or in the sea. When we saw this campaign on social networks, we said we should do it also,” says Louise Svensson, head of the restaurant’s environmental and commercial division.
Since the beginning of the campaign, six pots have already been harvested. “It’s a playful and non-lesson-giving operation, and we rely on the goodwill of our customers,” adds the manager. It is important to remember that it is not enough to arrive at the restaurant with a pot of butts in hand. The goal is to collect those polluting the coast and the edge of the port. It is, therefore, the bar that provides the pot to fill.
BUTTS, A RECURRING PROBLEM
This campaign also reminds us of the negative impact of cigarette butts on the environment. The World Health Organization says that 10 of the 15 billion cigarettes sold every day are thrown to the ground. A huge figure when you know that a single abandoned butt is enough to pollute 500 litres of water. “It is hoped that this initiative will encourage other institutions to do the same.” So, who’s next?