Issue date: 9/18/07 Section: NEWS

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The Keep Denton Beautiful street team is gunning for those who toss their cigarette butts on Fry Street. They are armed with pocket ashtrays, bumper stickers and T-shirts.
The group kicked off its first Cigarette Litter Prevention Program Aug. 30. The program was designed to reduce the littering of cigarette butts on and around Fry Street.
The group placed 20 gray trash-can-sized containers around a three-block radius at Fry and Hickory streets. The group is also out on the streets distributing materials such as cigarette butt holders and round pocket-sized containers with a sliding top that can hold up to five cigarette butts.
Ben Allen, a Houston senior who received a pocket ashtray, said he is confident in the common sense of people to dispose of their butts in the new receptacles.
"Most people, whenever they're throwing a cigarette butt, are looking for a place to put it, and there's nowhere to put it; now there is," Allen said. "Plus, this place could use to be little cleaner."
Aimee Dennis, community outreach coordinator for Keep Denton Beautiful, said she believes this program will make Fry Street a lot cleaner. This is only a start for Dennis, who said she not only wants more trash receptacles on Fry Street, but also wants to increase awareness of litter prevention and the impact of solid waste.Between July 6 and Aug. 27, Dennis said 2,955 cigarette butts accumulated around Fry Street. The street team will return seven weeks after Aug. 27 to pick up new butts and gauge the effectiveness of the program.
Nicole Vance, volunteer coordinator for Keep Denton Beautiful, said this program does more than get litter off the streets - it also changes the behavior that causes litter. "Behavior change is what we're all about," Vance said. "It's changing people's perceptions about what they're doing. This program is hitting it straight on, which is awesome."

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