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Grant aims to cut down the amount of butts on Colfax

An iconic street may be more beloved without the butts.
Credit: KUSA

KUSA – For those who live and work along Colfax Avenue, the grit and grime is part of the charm, but the street could still use a clean-up and some extra ashtrays.

“I don’t think that anyone would say that cigarette litter is part of the grit that they most enjoy about Colfax,” said Michelle Valeri, spokeswoman for the Colfax Ave. Business Improvement District. “They like the iconic institutions like the Ogden and the Fillmore, so if we can just keep those areas a little bit cleaner, we can still keep that character that a lot of people love.”

Valeri and the iconic street she wants to protect are counting on some help from a $10,000 grant from Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit community improvement organization.

“If you just take a look around, there are plenty of cigarette butts on Colfax, so we thought it was a perfect fit for the grant,” Valeri said.

Colfax Avenue is one of 42 organizations to receive the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grant. Valeri said the program has helped cut in half the number of discarded cigarette butts in the first four to six months. She’s hopeful it will do the same for Colfax.

9NEWS reporter Noel Brennan spent Monday morning at the corner of Colfax and Race Street counting discarded cigarette butts (Yes, he volunteered for this story).

Cigarette butts filled the cracks on the sidewalk and piled up in the grass beside budding dandelions. Noel didn’t make it more than 30 yards along the north side of Colfax before the count surpassed 300.

“The sheer number is impressive and just goes to show you that this grant is going to do a lot of good,” Valeri said.

Half of the grant money will pay for receptacles. Ten dome lids will be added to existing trash cans along Colfax and three standalone urns will be installed in the top three problem areas.

“You should see them out here in the streets in June,” Valeri said.

The rest of the money will cover installation costs and a public awareness campaign that would include handing out portable or pocket ashtrays.

Before the receptacles are installed, Valeri said Colfax will do a preliminary scan of the cigarette butt problem along Colfax.

“From Grant to Josephine, we’ll be counting all the cigarette butts along the corridor,” she said.

They’ll do another scan four months after installation and a follow-up scan a year later.

“Hopefully, we’ll see good results,” Valeri said.

An iconic street may be more beloved without the butts.

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