Over 3,000 Cigarette Butts Removed from Balearic Beaches

This weekend, around thirty volunteers collected more than 3,000 cigarette butts from the beaches of Santa Ponsa in Mallorca and Platja d’en Bossa in Ibiza, along with plastics and other types of waste.

In Santa Ponsa, about 25 volunteers picked up over 2,500 cigarette butts in just one hour. This effort was organized by the Mallorca Preservation Foundation under the slogan "The planet is suffocating." The Mallorca Preservation Foundation reported that people of all ages and backgrounds, including tourists, actively participated in the collection, equipped with containers to gather every butt found in the sand. In addition to collecting, the cigarette butts were quantified to provide valuable data to the scientific community, supporting research on tobacco-related pollution.

This campaign is also part of the '#Colillatón' initiative, led by Surfrider Spain, with participation from the Ibiza Preservation and Menorca Preservation foundations on their respective islands. The action has had a national reach, taking place on beaches and other natural environments in Asturias, Catalonia, Galicia, Madrid, the Basque Country, and Valencia.

In Ibiza, twelve volunteers collected 540 cigarette butts, 2.8 kilograms of plastics and microplastics, and 0.24 kilograms of other waste at Platja d’en Bossa.

According to Surfrider, “about 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded annually, with 40% ending up in the sea.” Ana Riera, director of Mallorca Preservation, warned that “cigarette butts are the most common waste on our coasts” and that “a single butt can contaminate up to 500 liters of water.” She emphasized the urgency of taking measures to prevent these wastes from reaching the beaches.

The collection of cigarette butts aims to “raise awareness about the negative effects this type of waste has on the marine environment,” according to the organizers of the initiative.