Shocking Truth: Cigarette Butts Rule Cancun’s Beaches!

Cigarette butts are the most common type of litter found on the beaches of Cancun. This issue is largely due to the disregard of beachgoers who leave their trash behind, especially during the holiday season. This past Saturday, a "Colillatón" clean-up event took place at Gaviota Azul beach, where volunteers collected between 600 and 700 cigarette butts, making them the most frequent type of waste found. In addition to this, 12 bags of other waste materials such as plastics, paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, bottle caps, and non-recyclables were collected from a 90-meter stretch of the beach.

Alma Alvarado Moo, director of the Quintana Roo Youth Institute (IQJ), stated that they have found solid waste and cigarette butts on all the beaches they have cleaned, including Langosta, Forum, Marlin, and San Miguelito. However, the situation at Gaviota Azul beach, cleaned this past Saturday, was the worst. The clean-up began at 7:30 am and lasted for three hours. During this time, volunteers demonstrated how plastic or glass materials could be reused, with some even teaching others how to make glasses from recycled material.

Alvarado Moo explained that the litter on the beach comes from various sources. Visitors often leave their waste behind, and the beach's proximity to the hotel zone's nightclub and party area contributes to the problem. Additionally, hotels often use confetti for parties, which ends up littering the sand.

Humberto Aldana Navarro, president of the Health and Social Assistance Commission of the State Congress, noted that while there are laws in place to penalize those who litter the beach, particularly with cigarette butts or garbage, enforcement is challenging due to the high number of people on the beaches. As such, a key strategy is to encourage collective efforts to protect the environment and raise awareness about the importance of picking up trash to preserve the ecosystem.

Approximately 50 people from various associations, including Snorkeling for Trash, Alak Bacalar, the Secretariat of Ecology and Environment (Sema), and the IQJ, participated in the clean-up event.

It's worth noting that during a previous "Colillatón" event held in 2023 at Gaviota Azul beach, volunteers collected around two thousand cigarette butts from the sand.