Fifth graders in Timmendorf collect over 600 cigarette butts on the beach!

Fifth graders in Timmendorf collect over 600 cigarette butts on the beach!

A happy Sunday on Timmendorfer Strand became a lesson in environmental protection and a sense of community. The fifth graders from the Ostsee-Gymnasium went to the coast with an impressive garbage collection campaign. In just 30 minutes, 70 students cleared the beach of an incredible 1,587 pieces of trash, including 645 cigarette butts. This campaign was not only a very practical contribution to nature, but also a social day with the aim of collecting 1,000 euros for a good cause - half of the net proceeds will be donated to the Sealife Center and Tourismus GmbH, as LN Online reports.

The children's enthusiasm was contagious, and the organization by the Sealife Center and the community gave the event a professional framework. Biologist Katja Lukoschus explained to the young garbage collectors about the dangers of garbage in the sea, a topic that is particularly important given the large number of cigarette butts that we find on our beaches (on the German Baltic Sea coast they make up around 9% of all garbage found).

The current situation with cigarette butts

According to WHO figures, cigarette butts are the most common waste product worldwide. Today, around 1.3 billion people smoke around 5.6 trillion cigarettes every year. It is shocking to realize that around 70% of these cigarettes end up in nature every year. This leads to a serious problem: cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic that takes several years to break down. In fact, they can take up to ten years to break down, and during this time they release toxic substances such as nicotine and heavy metals into the water. Under certain conditions, a cigarette filter can kill half of the fish in a liter of water within a short period of time, which has serious impacts on marine ecosystems, as the Tagesschau details.

• Gesammelte Müllteile:
• 645 Zigarettenstummel
• 634 Plastikteilchen
• 111 Papierstücke
• 86 Stück Restmüll
• 75 Metallteile
• 36 Glasscherben

It is clear that dealing with cigarette waste is not only a matter of personal preference, but also of the health of water bodies and those who depend on these water bodies. In order to combat the problem sustainably, NABU is calling for expanded producer responsibility; the tobacco industry should pay for education and clean-up work and take part in initiatives to improve disposal.

Another aspect is that although free beach ashtrays are offered, not all smokers use them. To combat this, environmental initiatives suggest that ashtrays should be better distributed on busy beaches. A full ashtray is always better than a pile of cigarette butts in the sand.

With their campaign, the children from Timmendorf not only cleaned their beach, but also raised awareness of environmental issues. Such programs are the first step in sensitizing future generations about the effects of marine litter. Hopefully what they learned will stay with them for a long time, and who knows - maybe it will inspire them to continue to actively support nature.