On Tuesday, January 25, California assemblymembers Luz Rivas, Mark Stone, and Cottie Petrie-Norris introduced legislation banning single-use vapes and tobacco filters. Nicholas Mallos, senior director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas® program, participated in a press conference announcing the bill and issued the following statement:

“Cigarette butts are by far the most common item polluting our beaches and waterways. In fact, cigarette butts made up close to 30% of the trash collected by volunteers across the state on Coastal Cleanup Day in 2020. Small and notoriously difficult to clean up, cigarette butts contain plastic filters that never break down, leaching toxic chemicals and microplastics into our environment indefinitely. Banning single-use filters is undoubtedly going to keep Californians and the beaches and wildlife they love healthier.”

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About Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas® Program
Ocean Conservancy has led the fight for a clean, healthy ocean free of trash since 1986, when the U.S.-based nonprofit launched its annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). Since then, Ocean Conservancy has mobilized millions of ICC volunteers to remove trash from beaches and waterways around the world while pioneering upstream solutions to the growing ocean plastics crisis. Ocean Conservancy invests in cutting-edge scientific research, implements on-the-ground projects, and works with conservationists, scientists, governments, the private sector and members of the public to change the plastics paradigm. To learn more about our Trash Free Seas® program visit oceanconservancy.org/trashfreeseas, and follow Ocean Conservancy on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.