Hold On To Your Butt Day

Beach advocates light up awareness over cigs on the sand

Leave it to the creative minds behind the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation to turn "anatomy phraseology" into an event designed to keep our beaches and oceans a little bit cleaner. 

Their annual "Hold on to Your Butt Awareness Day" has nothing to do with your posterior. It's aimed strictly at those who smoke on or near the beach.

Needless to say, the "butts" in this particular instance are those left behind once the smoke has cleared; that part of the cigarette that, in polite company, refers to the filter.  Un-smoked and often carelessly discarded onto the sand, sidewalk, street or gutter, the folks at Surfrider say these nasty bits of fibrous fabric then, more often than not, end up in the ocean where it can impact marine life, including surfers and swimmers.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, between 10:00 a.m. and noon, volunteers will tackle the issue through the use of large, colorful signs and graphic demonstrations that will, as they put it, "help motorists and beach goers realize the problem they're so concerned about."  The volunteers will also be handing out fliers, stickers and even personal ashtrays in an effort to get their point across.

The Surfrider Foundation is targeting three busy, beach area intersections at Cardiff, Mission Beach and Imperial Beach.

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