With the failure of California Senate Bill 424 in the 2020 legislative session, it's time to take our efforts to ban San Diego County's #1 most littered item to the city councils.

Despite a smoking ban on all beaches countywide, numerous anti-cigarette litter campaigns (including our chapter’s own Hold Onto Your Butt program) and a dramatic decline in smoking’s popularity in California over the last 20 years, butts persist as the #1 item found at beach, roadside and neighborhood cleanups in San Diego County. Cigarette butts are highly toxic and made from plastic, which does not biodegrade in the natural environment. It is time to move beyond the “don’t litter” mentality and attack this problem at its source. Disposable cigarette filters are inherently wasteful by design, and must be stopped.
In 2019, our efforts revolved around supporting CA Senate Bill 424, the Tobacco Product Recyclability and Producer Responsibility Act. SB 424 would have effectively banned the sale of single-use cigarette filters in our state. Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass during the 2020 legislative session.
Therefore, we are pursuing efforts to pass a local version of this ordinance in the City of San Diego.
Relevant Posts & Updates

The Butt Smackdown – An Action Alert
https://youtu.be/eBDaWlHUGmA Sign Our Action Alert! Did you know that cigarette butts account for 1 of every 4 items found at our beach cleanups? It’s not

We Support SB-424 to “Ban the Butt” in CA
Did you know that cigarette butts account for 1 of every 4 items found at our beach cleanups? It’s not uncommon for Surfrider volunteers to

Surfrider Volunteers Remove 1,493 Pounds of Trash from San Diego Beaches After 4th of July Holiday
Results from Surfrider’s Annual “Morning After Mess” Beach Cleanup Over 525 volunteers gathered at four popular beaches this morning to assist with the Surfrider Foundation

15th Annual Hold On To Your Butt Awareness Day!
On Saturday, September 16th from 9am-12pm, Surfrider San Diego will have its 15th Annual Hold On To Your Butt Awareness Day at Belmont Park!

Beach Meets the Streets Cleanup
Join the Hold On To Your Butt Committee and SD Coastkeeper for a cleanup of the beach and streets on Saturday June 24th!

Surfrider Goes to Sacramento
Doug Karpa (Turtle Island Restoration Network), Madeline Kinsey (CA Sea Grant), Diane Castaneda (Wildcoast), and Mitch Silverstein (Surfrider SD) thank Senator Richard Roth (D31 –