Fishing cigs from sand

When Cal State Fullerton senior Alexis Lenon and her classmates had to create their own organization and put on an event for school credit, she said they could have done something simple and quick to graduate.

But that’s meaningless, she said. The project was meant to get something out of the project beyond class credit.

“What’s something that wouldn’t just help us graduate? What is something that can really impact our lives?” Lenon wondered.

After talking to local environmental groups, Lenon and her classmates had their answer — Hold on to Your Butt.

Lenon’s group, Prestige Communications, is teaming up with the Earth Resource Foundation to host the annual Hold on to Your Butt beach cleanup at Newport Beach on Saturday. The cleanup, beginning at 8 a.m. at Newport Pier, will highlight that the No. 1 pollutant to the city’s shore is right at our fingertips and lips: cigarettes.

“This is really a stinky mess. You’re wondering why the beach smells so bad; it’s probably all those cigarettes,” said Stephanie Barger, the event’s founder. “If people think it’s just a little piece of litter, it’s not.”

In one day of work, volunteers collected more than 230,000 cigarette butts from California beaches last year. Saturday, volunteers will be picking up butts from everywhere — the sand, parking lots and planters in the area.

Organizers said there are more than 165 chemicals in cigarette filters alone.

“It reeks. It truly reeks. It’s something that stays with you long after a cloud of smoke has gone,” said Jim Walker, chairman of the Orange County Tobacco Education Coalition.

“That stuff just lingers for a long time. You’ve got to wash ... when you think about what’s in that smell, it gets worse.”

Like they say, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.

Organizers are looking for more volunteers to help them clean up the beach because they know their cleanup is only temporary. The Surfriders Foundation is scheduled to hit the same beach Sunday and they will probably find trash again, Barger said.

“If Newport is not going to be a smoke-free city then the city and the businesses need to set up legitimate receptacles,” Barger said. “For all the bars and restaurants where all their patrons go out and smoke, those are your patrons. You need to be responsible for them.”

For more information on how to join volunteers Saturday, go online to earthresource.org or call Barger at (949) 645-5163.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].