22/09/2025
Cairns CBD’s streets and garden beds have been revealed to be a massive ashtray, as nine dedicated volunteers collected a staggering 6,000 cigarette butts in just 90 minutes.
The Big Butt Hunt took place on Saturday, September 20 where volunteers sweeped city hot spots for discarded cigarettes as part of World Cleanup Day.
Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Ranger Jiritju Fourmile said most butts were found in garden beds, drains ad along walkways.
“It’s surprising and disgusting at the same time,” he said.
“Most of the cigarette butts we found were in garden beds, within the drains and along the walkways.
No More Butts founder Shannon Mead and Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Ranger Jiritju Fourmile with the collected butts. Picture: Molly Frew
“We’ve only had a small group of people and we managed to collect around 6,000 butts, so it just goes to show the impact we have with these smaller community events.”
No More Butts founder Shannon Mead said he hoped event would raise awareness about the “toxic litter” caused by discarding cigarette butts.
“Every cigarette butt poisons at least 40 litres of water, we know that, so collecting 6,000 to get them out of the stormways is a really important thing,” he said.
Mr Mead said the city may need more cigarette butt bins to “cater for the demand of smokers”.
“If it’s a question of aesthetics – whether or not a butt bin may not be aesthetic for the environment – we would argue that thousands of cigarette butts on the ground probably isn’t a good aesthetic either,” he said.
Mr Mead said the butts would also be analysed to see whether illicit tobacco was present. Picture: Molly Frew
Mr Mead said the butts would also be analysed to see whether illicit tobacco was present.
The event was part of Cairns Regional Council’s annual Clean Up Cairns initiative, where community groups host clean-ups ahead of the wet season to stop rubbish washing out to the Great Barrier Reef.
Since 2019, 73 clean-ups have removed the equivalent of 168 wheelie bins of litter from the region, according to Cairns Regional Council.
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