6 months Ago
City officials cite cigarette butts as the most frequently trashed item still found on the beach. By expanding smoke-free areas they want to create a cleaner and more pleasant place for everyone who uses the coast.
Cleaner Coastline and a Promising Trial Result
"The beach is there for all of us, there is room for everyone," said the GroenLinks alderman for Scheveningen, Arjen Kapteijns. "That applies to folks who would rather not sit in an environment filled with smoke and cigarette butts." He added that increasing smoke-free areas is an important step towards keeping the coast clean.
The areas marked off-limits for smoking are the sports beach on the Noorderstrand, between beach palaces Hart Beach and Fonk, the new section next to De Pier near Zeezicht beach palace, and the area between Strandslag 1 Kijkduin and the Westland border. Another piece of the Noorderstrand from Strandslag 34 to Wassenaar has also been added.
The extended application followed a test phase that occurred between 2023 and 2024. The trial on the sport beach, one near the lighthouse, saw a significant reduction in cigarette waste, prompting the city to expand the smoke-free policy elsewhere.
Bringing the community together by Art and Cleanliness
To aid the campaign, the environmental group TrashUre Hunt, created a public artwork out of rubbish hoovered off the beach. The piece also serves to delineate the smoke-free areas in the beach and will provide the locals an incentive to keep the beach clean by doing it themselves. Ralph Groenheijde of TrashUre Hunt said they could add their cigarette filter to the artwork to provide an easy, visual contribution to the cleanup.
