3,000 Beach Ashtrays

Cigarette Butts in Formentera

Formentera, July 31, 2026

The Consell Insular de Formentera has launched a new environmental awareness campaign aimed at reducing the number of cigarette butts found on the island’s beaches. The initiative consisted of the free distribution of 3,000 reusable portable ashtrays for both residents and visitors.

The campaign aims to encourage more responsible behaviour among smokers while helping to preserve the coastline. To make these ashtrays easily accessible, the Consell has organised their distribution at various strategic locations linked to tourism and beach services.

The accumulation of cigarette butts remains one of the most common environmental problems on sandy beaches. Although many smokers do not give the slightest thought to throwing their cigarette butts wherever they please, this type of waste has a significant impact on the coastal ecosystem and makes beach cleaning much more difficult.

Through this campaign, the institution wants to remind people that small individual actions can help keep the natural environment in better condition and prevent thousands of cigarette butts from ending up on the sand or in the sea every season.

Promoting Cleaner Beaches

The Department of the Environment of the Consell Insular de Formentera has launched this awareness campaign by distributing 3,000 reusable portable ashtrays free of charge. The aim is to encourage responsible behaviour among smokers and reduce the number of cigarette butts left on the island’s beaches.
The ashtrays have been distributed through the tourist information offices, lifeguard teams, the island’s eight chiringuitos, and businesses that rent out sun loungers and parasols.

Significant Environmental Impact

Cigarette butts are one of the most polluting types of litter found along the coastline. They are made from cellulose acetate, a petroleum-based material that is not biodegradable and can take around 15 years to decompose.
Each cigarette butt discarded on the sand can contaminate up to 25 litres of water, affecting marine flora and fauna. In addition, because of their small size and light weight, they are extremely difficult to remove using mechanical beach-cleaning systems, increasing the costs required to keep beaches in good condition.

On the Sand or in the Sea

The Consell explained that the campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of disposing of cigarette butts properly while appealing to the shared responsibility of smokers, residents and visitors to preserve the coastline in the best possible condition.
The reusable cone-shaped ashtrays allow smokers to store their cigarette butts conveniently until they find a rubbish bin, preventing them from being left on the sand or blown into the sea by the wind. The institution has encouraged all smokers using the beaches to make use of these ashtrays as a simple way to help protect the natural environment.

My Contribution in 2013

This campaign reminded me of a project I developed in 2013 with exactly the same objective. At the time, I designed a wooden stand that served as a dispenser for beach ashtrays made from recycled soft drink cans, with the tops removed to make them easier to use.
I also created the website www.sincolillas.com, where I explained the story behind the project and showed the locations of the various stands installed on Formentera’s beaches. More than a decade later, some of those stands are still there, which gives me enormous satisfaction, knowing that the initiative continues to make its own small contribution.

I patented the stand’s design with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office and later transferred the commercial exploitation rights, free of charge, to the Deixalles Foundation. This organisation, which operates throughout the Balearic Islands, develops employment integration projects for people at risk of social exclusion, meaning the initiative successfully combined environmental protection with a strong social commitment.

I still wonder whether there will ever be a measure effective enough to stop us from seeing cigarette butts abandoned on the sand or among the rocks because of irresponsible smokers. Even so, I am convinced that every small action that helps reduce this problem is worthwhile.