New efforts to get smokers to butt out in special ashtrays at the beach in Tel Aviv look all for naught.
The City of Tel Aviv has made a stellar offer to help its resident smoking addicts (about 3/4 of the city) to stop butting out at the beach. A recent walk along the North Tel Aviv beach introduced me to cigarette cones, stacked neatly in the tray for smokers to butt out in. Nice idea, but hard habits die hard. Israelis love them smokes and cafe ha fouchs at the beach. Case in point: most of the cones were missing from the tray (the beach was empty). Either they were turned into sand castles, or taken home.
Also, efforts to separate plastic bottles from regular waste were all for naught. Both bags contained different kids of trash. Being the cynic that I am, I can imagine all the plastic bottles floating out to sea.
The Middle East has a serious problem with getting its people to clean up trash, and separate recyclables from garbage. Hopefully, small efforts will point the way. At least Tel Aviv’s not attempting to refrigerate its beach in the summer like Dubai.
To order your own beach cones, we found this website selling Ecobyn‘s.
More on the beach:
Is Dubai’s Refrigerated Beach One Step Too Far
Battle of the Beach in Palmachim, Israel
Will the Coral Reefs at Aqaba, Jordan, Be Destroyed By Litter?
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist and publisher that founded Green Prophet to unite a prosperous Middle East. She shows through her work that positive, inspiring dialogue creates action that impacts people, business and planet. She has published in thought-leading newspapers and magazines globally, owns an IoT tech chip patent, and is part of teams that build world-changing products to make agriculture and our planet more sustainable. Reach out directly to [email protected]
That is pretty sad that people don’t bring the cones back. I do appreciate the efforts of whoever made the cones possible, but I can’t imagine people who smoke wanting to carry them around. I am all for recycling and holding on to my items until I throw them in the trash. However, many people out there are very lazy.
LOL! Karen, in psychobabble terms that'd be called justification. 😉 I think primitive people had other ways of connecting too…that's why we are all here now. And THAT way is actually good for your health. wink wink again. 🙂
Seriously. But smoking can be fun, too. It's very social. Primitively connecting us back to fire. The first fire. That's how I feel when I'd smoke with people.
I haven't even read the post yet, and my first thought was, WHY NOT QUIT SMOKING TO BEGIN WITH????? Okay, off my soap box now. Gonna go cough all the second hand smoke outta my lungs now…
And the URL of your organization has obviously be sloughed off by the sand. You can't read it at all. Even with a macro lens.
Hi Mom,Maybe you can lead the revolution!
And the URL of your organization has obviously be sloughed off by the sand. You can't read it at all. Even with a macro lens.
Hi Mom,Maybe you can lead the revolution!
At least they are making an effort. You should see the beach down here at” Panama City Beach ” Florida at spring break , there is no recycling what so ever . Everything goes in the trash bin and that most times is the unfortunately is the beach. The town comes along every morning and mows under what ever the local folk didn't get a chance to pick up . Everything from beer bottles, water bottles,shoes, and clothing, scattered by the drunken revellers. They have lots of garbage bins available and most are full but the debris is unbelievable.Perhaps the two cities should get together and brainstorm for a solution. A winter resident of Panama City Beach.
Hi Yoav,We appreciate your comment, and whether or not my post is cynical or not, I think it's fair to assume that most Israelis would not pick up this effort as quickly as most would like. The fact that only a few cones have been put on the beach for worries of theft just confirms my hunch. Think it's better to ban smoking on the beach altogether, then we wouldn't have a problem here. Or having a well paid force go out and fine anyone and everyone for leaving their sh*t behind them when they leave the beach or park. – Karin
Dear Karin,While I appreciate your website and your coverage of the beach ashtrays I find it very unconstructive and even harmful to Israel and its growing green efforts and population.Instead of being cynical and negative and by that pushing more Israelis into the already dominant apathetic mode; as a green 'journalist', you probably should be more positive about the buds of green intiatives. There are enough people here that will kill these ideas due to disbelief or indifference. We don't need another (green) one.Furthermore, as a 'journalist', reading the letters on the beach sign and on the ashtrays (even from your own pictures) would have 'revealed' that the ashtrays have been posted together with 'Eretz Lelo Bdal', an NGO which focuses on decreasing the amount of cigarette butts litter in Israel.The intiative and the NGO were even covered by greeenprophet. No need to get to Spanish websites…try the search window in greenpropher and http://www.bdalim.info which appear on each ashtray on the beach.Furthermore, as a 'journalist' you made your opinion sounds as a fact: 'Either they were turned into sand castles, or taken home', this without talking to anyone from the municipality or Eretz Lelo Bdal. It so happens that since it is not the 'beach season' anymore, the muni, correctly, didn't see any use in putting all the ashtrays in place, to avoid loss and theft. If you would have talked to any of the people involved you would have heard about the great responses of the public and the interest of other municipalities.Wishing for positive and hopeful people,YoavEretz Lelo Bdalhttp://www.bdalim.info