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Climate activists gathered 650,000 cigarette butts and piled them up in the heart of Portugal's capital Lisbon to raise awareness about this often-overlooked form of pollution.
They collected enough stubs to fill 40 plastic buckets, then heaped them into a mound for Andreas Noe, the German climate campaigner behind the stunt, to climb on top of. Noe wore breathing apparatus to protect him from the toxins in the non-biodegradable butts.
Containers, full of cigarette butts collected in one week, are displayed at Comercio square in Lisbon. /Patricia de Melo Moreira /AFP
"We asked everyone in Portugal to take part in this community project to raise awareness about plastic pollution, because plastic is hidden in cigarette butts and many people don't know it," the 34-year-old said.
He said the simple cigarette butt was a "beautiful example of how someone can start to take action" against littering, ocean pollution and ultimately the climate crisis.
Onlookers gaze at a pile of cigarette butts, collected in one week, at Lisbon's Comercio square. /Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP
Two years ago, the activist and surfing enthusiast collected about a million cigarette butts in two months.
"We want to put an end to this problem by encouraging people to throw their butts in the bin or pocket ashtrays – anywhere but on the ground," said David Figueira, who took part in the project.
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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466