Tulln battles with smoking - and its environmental impact

The city wants to do everything in its power to help people stop smoking – or to at least stop them from dropping their cigarette butts everywhere

Keeping one’s city clean is the responsibility of each and every citizen living there – not just of its local authorities. Yet governments can do a lot when it comes to facilitating the process, and they can do even more when their approach is widely understood and approved by their respective constituents.

Cigarette butts – a constant plague on the urban area

Smoking is one of the most serious healthcare issues that citizens face every day. It also has an environmental byproduct – namely the littering and the waste that smoking generates is often one of the main issues for authorities who aim to keep cities clean and tidy.

In light of such considerations, the Austrian town of Tulln wants to actively help its citizens drop the bad and unhealthy habit – or at the very least to make smokers keep the urban area clean.

Authorities in the city have been equipping the local bins with ashtrays as part of a concentrated effort to limit the number of cigarette butts that are dropped on the ground. They also aim to expand this practice by integrating even more ashtrays into the future and newly installed trashcans. So far, the municipal waste management company has made available 300 bins with ashtrays freely available to the city’s authorities, aiding them in their quest of keeping the area clean and healthy.

Mayor Mag. Peter Eisenschenk’s directly asked for the citizens’ cooperation in keeping Tulln clean -"Smoking is harmful and we offer advice and the right contact addresses for everyone who wants to give up this habit as part of the" Healthy Tulln "association. At the same time, we appeal to all smokers: Please dispose of your cigarette ends in the trashcans and not on the floor for the benefit of the environment and others!”