The Papacría Territory Custody Association has requested various audiovisual production companies to avoid including in their filming and productions images of characters throwing cigarette butts on the ground. The initiative is part of its environmental campaign Cigarette butts do not vanish.
According to the environmental entity, the reiteration of this type of scenes in films, series, video clips and advertisements can contribute to normalizing, unconsciously, a highly polluting behavior and still very widespread in public spaces.
“Cigarette butts are one of the most frequent wastes in streets and in nature. They are small, but their impact is enormous. If it is shown as a habitual and daily gesture, the idea that it has no consequences is reinforced”, they point out from the association.
In the submitted letter, Papacría proposes simple alternatives that do not alter either the script or the aesthetics of the scenes, such as extinguishing the cigarette butt and depositing it in a waste bin or ashtray, or using portable ashtrays outdoors, practices that, they point out, are beginning to be progressively implemented.
The letter has been sent to production companies such as Onyxay Lanzarote Producciones, Paraíso Productions, Seven Islands Film and Videoreport Canarias S.A., among others.
From the association, they insist that it is a "constructive and environmentally responsible" initiative and encourage the audiovisual sector to incorporate good practices both on screen and in the productions themselves.