Do the Butt Blitz! - BurlingtonGreen

BurlingtonGreen is pleased to join our friends at A Greener Future for their national Butt Blitz Campaign.

This annual initiative brings together thousands of people across Canada with one shared goal: to collect 1 million cigarette butts in one month (April) while raising awareness about one of the most common and harmful forms of litter.

Over the years, volunteers have already helped remove more than 5 million cigarette butts from our environment. This year, we’re excited to continue building momentum right here in Burlington.

Why Focus on Cigarette Butts?

Cigarette butts may be small, but their impact is significant.

An estimated 8,000 tonnes of cigarette waste is littered in Canada each year
Each cigarette butt contains over 130 chemicals
Just one butt in one litre of water can be toxic enough to harm aquatic life
Despite this, cigarette litter is still widely normalized. Many people simply don’t realize the environmental harm, which is why education and community action are so important.

Be A Part of the Movement

You can participate in the Butt Blitz in a way that works for you, on your own schedule, throughout the month of April.

How it works

1. Sign Up to Participate. Register for our Clean Up Green Up event. Select the option indicating that you will be picking up butts separately for recycling via Terracycle

Note: if you are doing multiple Butt Blitz collections, please either register each event through our website or sign up directly through A Greener Future.

2. Review all of the information provided
This includes essential safety info, sorting instructions, and how to track your impact.

3. Collect cigarette butts
Head out into your neighbourhood, parks, trails, or public spaces and collect cigarette litter and make sure you store it separately from other litter you and your group pick up

4. Submit your data
Report how many butts you collect so your efforts contribute to the national total.

What you will need

Gloves (reusable or disposable)
An upcycled container (such as a yogurt tub, jar, or bucket)
Optional: a litter picker or tongs
Pro tip: Count how many cigarette butts fill one container, then estimate future totals based on that number to save time.

drop-off in burlington

As a local Butt Blitz partner, BurlingtonGreen serves as a drop-off location for cigarette butts collected in Burlington.

Collected butts are sent to TerraCycle Canada, where they are recycled into new products.

You can:

Bring your collected cigarette butts to our Eco-Hub at Burlington Beach (email us to arrange a drop-off time)
-Option of leaving butts in a sealed container at the back entrance of our building
Participate during select community events such as our Earth Day Beach Clean-up with A Greener Future. Register to participate here.

If you’re organizing a clean-up, be sure to register it first here and once complete, track and share your totals with us via our “Report Your Clean Up Data” form.

A National Effort with Real Impact

When you participate, you’re joining thousands of people across Canada taking action in their own communities.

Every cigarette butt collected:

Helps reach the national 1 million butt goal
Contributes to live tracking data across the country
Supports recycling efforts that turn waste into useful products

If the national goal is reached, the collected cigarette waste will even be transformed into a recycled bench, with volunteers helping decide where it will be installed in Ontario.

Beyond the Clean-Up

Reducing cigarette litter also means shifting habits and raising awareness.

If you smoke or know someone who does, consider starting conversations about proper disposal. Small changes in behaviour can have a big impact when they spread across communities.

Support This Work

BurlingtonGreen is committed to engaging the community year-round on important environmental issues like litter reduction and waste diversion.

As a registered charity, we rely on community support to continue this work. Donations help us deliver programs, events, and outreach that create lasting change.

If you have questions or want to coordinate a drop-off, feel free to reach out. And thank you for being part of the solution.