If the City of North Vancouver mayor has his way, he'll put a price on all your butts - cigarette butts, that is.
That's the message Mayor Darrell Mussatto had for all the smokers who flick their filters, stubs and cigarette butts throughout the City of North Vancouver's streets, sidewalks and parks.
In an effort to stem the yellowing tide of litter, Mussatto is proposing a province-wide deposit on all cigarettes sold in B.C. Smokers would pay an extra $1 per pack and get five cents back for each cigarette stem returned.
If working with the province isn't fruitful, Mussatto said the city may consider a North Vancouver-wide deposit program - provided such a program is legal.
"Do we have the authority to require a deposit?" he asked. "That's what we're going to ask ... our lawyers."
While a lack of ashtrays may exacerbate the proliferation of cigarette butts, Mussatto said he's not anxious to bring back the bins.
"We don't want to normalize, or make smoking acceptable," Musssatto said. "We don't want to make it look like it's OK."
The situation is a bit of a conundrum, according to the mayor.
"On the one hand, we want to keep a clean city.
On the other, we don't want to. .. support any smoking at all."
The first step will be to contact West Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver, according to Mussatto.
From there, the city hopes a united North Shore will petition the province to add the deposit.
It's crucial the province takes the lead, as opposed to tobacco companies playing a role in recycling smokes, according to Mussatto.
Any extended producer responsibility program would offer tobacco companies a chance to market their wares, a prospect Mussatto opposes.
The project got a thumbsup from council, although Coun. Rod Clark suggested the deposit ought to be steeper.
"What if we made it five dollars a pack? Wouldn't that tend to up compliance?" he asked. "As far as I'm concerned it's an investment in the environment."
The City of Vancouver has collected 200 pounds of cigarette butts during a pilot project that kicked off in 2013. The city installed 100 bins around Vancouver at a cost of $12,000. The city plans to remove 24 of the bins.
