Every year thousands of volunteers take to beaches around the world to rid the sands and waters of trash as part of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup.In 2021, 1,442 volunteers covered 89.4km of South African beaches where they collected more than 39,000 items that should have been thrown away, including 4,000 cigarette butts. Though small, cigarette butts are not harmless. They are made of cellulose acetate, a man-made plastic, and contain toxic chemicals.It’s a global problem. More than 1-million cigarette butts were found on beaches around the world in 2021.