Stormwater Utility, along with Clean Valley Council, Arts Commission and others, launched a campaign to find locally written jingles to fight cigarette butts in the waste system downtown. The five best jingles will win $100.
Suddenly, the City of Roanoke’s Stormwater Utility division—not the sexiest of all departments—is in the music business.
With the help of various other divisions, including the Clean Valley Council, Arts Commission and others, Stormwater Utility today (March 1) launched a campaign to find jingles, written locally, to fight cigarette butts in the waste system downtown.
Submissions will be original tunes and lyrics encouraging the disposal of cigarette butts other than in the street. The five best of the jingles will win $100 each.
Leigh Anne Weitzenfeld in the City’s Stormwater Utility department can give you more detailed information at 540-853-5910 or by email at leighanne.weitzenfeld@roanokeva.gov.
Cigarette butts are small as waste goes, but they have become a large problem, especially downtown. It is estimated that 32% of litter contains tobacco products and they are not biodegradable, according to a press release from Stormwater Utility. They also contain chemicals that leach into the environment, harming aquatic and plant life.
The campaign’s goals are to make disposing of butts easier and more logical. The jingle is just one element of the campaign, which includes new cigarette receptacles, encouraging recycling butts, and encouraging business to help eliminate the butts in the waste flow.
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
