Cigarette Butts in Paris, Stop Smoking

Since smokers were forced out of cafes and bars five years ago, they increasingly throw their butts on the ground, according to city officials. The situation is so out of hand, Bertrand Delanoë, the eco-friendly mayor has promised to provide thousands of new public ashtrays, and has asked to increase fines for throwing trash on the ground. Separately, a campaign to stop the polluting habit was launched on Wednesday, with the slogan: "Don't throw out your cigarette butt, become a hero." The number of cigarette butts on the streets, "has exploded" since smokers have been pushed outside, said Francois Dagnaud, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of cleanliness, in an interview with Le Parisien Wednesday. "At the entrance to metros, at the entrances to cafés and restaurants ..., the situation isn't acceptable ... the sidewalks are carpeted with cigarette butts," he said. Mr Delanoë will provide 10,000 public ashtrays on a third of street bins throughout the city, and has asked the government to increase to 68 euros (£42) a currently un-enforced fine for throwing cigarette butts on the streets. The same fine, currently set at 35 euros, applies to other forms of polluting, such as failing to clean up after your dog. "I know for a lot of smokers the natural reaction is to throw them (butts) on the ground, but we want to remind them that the sidewalk is not an ashtray and a cigarette butt is toxic waste," said Mr Dagnaud. "Our goal is of course not to put a police officer behind every smoker, but to encourage them to change their behavior."