A non-profit group is handing out thousands of pocket ashtrays in 70 cities, including Buffalo, N.Y., telling smokers, "Keep your butts to yourself."

ADVERTISEMENT

Saying cigarette butts are the most-littered item in the United States, Keep America Beautiful hopes smokers will put their cigarette butts in the oval-shaped ashtrays, which resemble pocket change holders, instead of on the ground.

"Most smokers would never drop a can or a McDonald's bag on the ground, but when they drop a cigarette, they don't consider it litter," Keep America Beautiful project director Carrie Gallagher tells The Buffalo News.

One of the project's goals is to eliminate the butts that accumulate at the entrance of buildings and other places where smokers often gather.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the nation's largest cigarette maker, supports the effort, the News said.

"With the growing number of inside-smoking bans throughout the country, cigarette-litter prevention is becoming more important," Reynolds spokesman David Howard said.