that hopefully are a catalyst to promoting long term behavioral
change.”
National Blitz The Butt Day is gaining interest rapidly with people
from around the world showing their support, “from different
countries all around the world saying that they’d like to take part
as well.”
Jason adds, “It’s only going to be a drop in the ocean in the grand
scheme of things, but it will be very good for raising awareness.”
Organising a ‘pick on a path’ staff congregate on outside Ipswitch
Hospital, Jason collected over six thousand cigarette butts in
under two hours. From this pathway alone he has cleared around
40,000 cigarette ends.
“You’ll see posters and signs up around hospital sites and they’ll
try and encourage people to stop smoking and to have patches
or to go over to vaping” he says, but Jason feels one of the main
issues with the blanket ban on smoking on hospital grounds
is that the NHS are actually alienating their target audience as
smokers need to remain out of sight, and therefore out of reach
of these adverts.
If a 20-a-day smoker was to switch to e-cigarettes they would
vaporize around 3 to 4mls of juice daily in a typical dual coil
device. On the average month this would equate to around two
60ml bottles a month.
“These campaigns
are something
that hopefully
are a catalyst to
promoting long term
behavioral change.”
Unlike cigarette butts, vape components can be disposed of
as household recycling, providing they are rinsed thoroughly.
Bottles can also be re-used when making DIY liquids.
Batteries are often forbidden from general waste due to toxicity
and therefore need to be disposed of appropriately at a battery
bank which are later recycled, while disposable pens can be
broken down and their parts can be recycled accordingly.
By switching to vaping, the damage to the environment as well
as public health could dramatically decrease, while the NHS
purse and economy in general may benefit.
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