Plastic Free Delaware
  • Sign In
  • Create Account

  • My Account
  • Signed in as:

  • filler@godaddy.com


  • My Account
  • Sign out

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • MISSION & HISTORY
    • WHO WE ARE
    • ANNUAL REPORTS
    • IN THE NEWS
  • SINGLE USE PLASTICS
    • SINGLE USE PLASTICS
    • SKIP THE STUFF ACT
    • BAGS
    • BALLOONS
    • POLYSTYRENE FOAM
    • STRAWS
    • SIX PACK RINGS/WRAPS
    • SYNTHETIC TURF
  • ZERO WASTE
    • ZERO WASTE PRINCIPLES
    • FOOD WASTE
    • RIGHT TO REPAIR
    • BACKYARD COMPOSTING
  • COMMUNITY COMPOSTING
    • ABOUT DCCI
    • DCCI SITES
    • DCCI SCHOOL PROGRAMS
    • COMPOSTING RESOURCES
  • EDUCATION/PROGRAMS
    • DE COMPOSTING INITIATIVE
    • PLASTIC FREE LUNCH DAY
    • YES! YOUTH SUMMIT
    • LUNCH & LEARN LIVESTREAMS
    • SCHOOL PROGRAMS
    • SLINGSHOT CHALLENGE
    • HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTT
  • EVENTS
  • GET INVOLVED!
    • SUPPORT
    • VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
    • TAKE ACTION
    • CALENDAR
    • MERCH
    • CONTACT
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • REPORT VIOLATIONS
  • More
    • HOME
    • ABOUT
      • MISSION & HISTORY
      • WHO WE ARE
      • ANNUAL REPORTS
      • IN THE NEWS
    • SINGLE USE PLASTICS
      • SINGLE USE PLASTICS
      • SKIP THE STUFF ACT
      • BAGS
      • BALLOONS
      • POLYSTYRENE FOAM
      • STRAWS
      • SIX PACK RINGS/WRAPS
      • SYNTHETIC TURF
    • ZERO WASTE
      • ZERO WASTE PRINCIPLES
      • FOOD WASTE
      • RIGHT TO REPAIR
      • BACKYARD COMPOSTING
    • COMMUNITY COMPOSTING
      • ABOUT DCCI
      • DCCI SITES
      • DCCI SCHOOL PROGRAMS
      • COMPOSTING RESOURCES
    • EDUCATION/PROGRAMS
      • DE COMPOSTING INITIATIVE
      • PLASTIC FREE LUNCH DAY
      • YES! YOUTH SUMMIT
      • LUNCH & LEARN LIVESTREAMS
      • SCHOOL PROGRAMS
      • SLINGSHOT CHALLENGE
      • HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTT
    • EVENTS
    • GET INVOLVED!
      • SUPPORT
      • VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
      • TAKE ACTION
      • CALENDAR
      • MERCH
      • CONTACT
      • SUBSCRIBE
      • REPORT VIOLATIONS
Plastic Free Delaware

Signed in as:

filler@godaddy.com

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • MISSION & HISTORY
    • WHO WE ARE
    • ANNUAL REPORTS
    • IN THE NEWS
  • SINGLE USE PLASTICS
    • SINGLE USE PLASTICS
    • SKIP THE STUFF ACT
    • BAGS
    • BALLOONS
    • POLYSTYRENE FOAM
    • STRAWS
    • SIX PACK RINGS/WRAPS
    • SYNTHETIC TURF
  • ZERO WASTE
    • ZERO WASTE PRINCIPLES
    • FOOD WASTE
    • RIGHT TO REPAIR
    • BACKYARD COMPOSTING
  • COMMUNITY COMPOSTING
    • ABOUT DCCI
    • DCCI SITES
    • DCCI SCHOOL PROGRAMS
    • COMPOSTING RESOURCES
  • EDUCATION/PROGRAMS
    • DE COMPOSTING INITIATIVE
    • PLASTIC FREE LUNCH DAY
    • YES! YOUTH SUMMIT
    • LUNCH & LEARN LIVESTREAMS
    • SCHOOL PROGRAMS
    • SLINGSHOT CHALLENGE
    • HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTT
  • EVENTS
  • GET INVOLVED!
    • SUPPORT
    • VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
    • TAKE ACTION
    • CALENDAR
    • MERCH
    • CONTACT
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • REPORT VIOLATIONS

Account


  • My Account
  • Sign out


  • Sign In
  • My Account

HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTT

Cigarette Butts Are Plastic Pollution

The Hold On To Your Butt program launched in 2022 in Delaware to reduce the amount of cigarette waste on our beaches and in our waterways.  The project is led by the Delaware Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation in partnership with Plastic Free Delaware and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.  


Cigarette butts are the top item collected during Delaware beach and coastal cleanups. 


  • Last year the Surfrider Foundation Delaware Chapter alone removed 5,000 butts from state park beaches, 4% of the entire national total! 
  • Cigarette butts are not biodegradable nor compostable.  They are made of plastic - plasticized cellulose acetate.  Cigarette filters discarded in the environment break down into smaller pieces over the course of many years while doing tremendous damage to the world's oceans, wildlife and even putting microplastics into the human food chain. 
  • They are unpleasing to see, detract from tourism and sense of community, and damage our beach ecology.  


Help us remove cigarette butts from our beaches Use cigarette butt collection canisters at state park beaches Use a pocket ashtray or similar item to hold your butts until you can dispose of them correctly. 


Many people believe the butts are made from natural materials that will break down naturally in the environment. When in fact the butt of a cigarette is made of plastic material – cellulose acetate. When not discarded properly the butts get washed into the ocean where they break down into microparticles and are consumed by the shellfish and fish we eat as well as pollute the water with toxic microplastics and the toxins collected from smoking the cigarette. 

PROGRAM PARTNERS

Plastic Free Delaware - making a difference locally, doing Delaware's part globally.


Copyright © 2025 Plastic Free Delaware - All Rights Reserved


Plastic Free Delaware is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, EIN #85-2916447


Non-discrimination Statement:

Plastic Free Delaware does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, 

disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. 

  • EVENTS
  • SUPPORT
  • TAKE ACTION
  • CALENDAR
  • CONTACT
  • SUBSCRIBE