– It wasn’t a sneep to see! That’s what Henning Krawowski, festival manager of the Monument Festival in Rollag municipality, says. He is one of several festival managers in Norway who praise the pocket ashtrays – and not least their effect. Festival manager Henning Krawowski at Monument Festival 2023. Photo: Monument Festival – We have given out pocket ashtrays from the Plastpirates during the last two or three festivals. People use them and don’t throw the snips on the ground. The festival is on a farm we rent, and there are cows that will graze on the area afterwards. We are concerned with taking care of nature. – Do you know that it is illegal to distribute them? – No. Because of the … Tobacco Advertising Act? That’s just stupid! This is environmentally friendly, says Krawowski. Plans up in smoke – It’s a silly law! That’s what an upset Andreas Brandvoll says. He is the general manager of Plastpiratene, a voluntary organization that “works to get the ocean and people on the right track”. Brandvoll refers to the Directorate of Health and the Act on the prohibition of tobacco advertising. The law prohibits the Plastic Pirates from marketing the organisation’s pocket ashtrays which they give away. Giving them away – for free – is also illegal. – This is very simple. We give people solutions. A place where people can throw their rubbish. Sneiper was and is a huge problem, notes Brandvoll defending. Managing director Andreas Brandvoll (left) and diving manager Dag Reynolds in the Plastic Pirates like to break the law to overcome the littering problem. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Even though ashtrays in public places are constantly removed, people still smoke, the plastic pirate continues. – Most people do not want to throw rubbish into nature, but when people do not have good waste management, it is done anyway. We just try to contribute a little with pocket ashtrays, explains Brandvoll. What do you think of pocket ashtrays? I thought this was a good idea! No, I’m blowing a long march in that. I don’t know. Show result Thousands of billions of snuff in nature In a concluding report “Keep Norway clean” made for Oslo municipality in 2019, it was documented that cigarette butts and snuff bags are the city’s biggest littering problem. Snuff makes up 42.5 per cent of all rubbish, while used snuff bags make up 20.6 per cent, the report says. Cigarette butts are a major littering problem. Photo: Bjørn W. Lunde The filter in the snipe consists of 95 per cent plastic. Plastic that never disappears, but only breaks down into smaller pieces. It is further claimed that cigarette butts are the biggest source of plastic pollution. In a study (Current Environmental Health Reports) that forskning.no refers to, it is estimated that a total of 4.5 trillion snipe are thrown into nature every single year. Simply explained: Snipe pesters us all. May result in punitive measures The advertising ban in Norway covers both tobacco products and tobacco equipment. – Including ashtrays, says Erlend Bø, department director at the Directorate of Health. Erlend Bø is department director at the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Photo: Norwegian Directorate of Health He explains that “visible display of tobacco equipment will be able to provide an invitation to buy and serve as indirect advertising for tobacco”. This means that the Plastic Pirates and festivals are breaking the law. – Will it entail any consequences in the form of e.g. fines? – Free distribution will be a breach of the advertising ban. In the event of a breach, the person responsible will be given the opportunity to correct himself. A compulsory fine can also be set, Bø replies. Will continue to hand out ashtrays André Hrafn Bendigtsen is festival director of Asker Rock, one of several music organizers who have accepted the pocket-sized ashtrays from Plastpiratene. André Hrafn Bendigtsen is the festival director of Asker Rock. Photo: Private – We had them lying in the bar and handed them out. Usually there are a lot of snipe, but this year we didn’t have to go and pick for weeks after the festival, he says. Criminal environmental campaigners The plastic pirates advertise the pocket ashtrays on their own website. Something they will continue with. They will also continue to hand them out at festivals. The techno festival Monument Festival in Rollag is one of several music festivals that have given out free pocket ashtrays to the participants. Photo: Monument Festival Ideally, Brandvoll should have seen that the ashtrays were available in kiosks and shops, free of charge. – Next to lighters, for example. But nobody dares to have this product because of the law. It will be like giving away cigarettes, sighs Brandvoll and concludes with the following: – But we do it anyway. We deliberately break the law. And snap, snap, snap, then this adventure was over.
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– We deliberately break the law – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
