Frustration over 'gross' Gen-Z trend that's fouling popular Aussie beach
Snus and other nicotine pouches are being regularly littered on an eastern suburbs beach in Sydney – and they're becoming a health hazard.
A dirty new trend is plaguing one of Australia’s most popular beaches. Addictive tobacco pouches have become popular with teenagers and young adults around Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and to the frustration of locals, they’re routinely being sucked until they’re soggy and then left on beaches.
What disgusts volunteer beach cleaner Paige Smith about this trend is that once pouches are coated in saliva they become a health hazard. And they’re being routinely spat out and left to decay around Coogee Beach and surrounding parkland where children could pick them up.
“They’re pretty gross. I use a rubbish picker which was $8 at Bunnings, or gloves that I got from Clean Up Australia which are coated in rubber so nothing can pierce them,” the 29-year-old told Yahoo News.
How often are these tobacco pouches dumped?
There are two types of pouches routinely used in Australia. Snus was designed in Sweden as an alternative to cigarettes and vapes. The sachets contain powdered tobacco that are placed under the lip and sucked. Illegal in Australia, they resemble a tea bag, are flavoured with sweet fruit or mint, and are sold in a brightly coloured tin.
Nicotine pouches look almost identical, although they don’t contain tobacco. According to analysis by Sydney University, they can only be purchased with a prescription, but like vapes and cigarettes, there’s a thriving black market.
“Every time I pick up rubbish the most common item is cigarette butts, but there’s always snus packets among them,” Paige said on Wednesday evening.
“I’d already done a clean-up this week on Monday and found 10, but I found five more today. Most days average around 10 to 30.”
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No excuse for littering tobacco pouches
Cigarette butts contain microplastics and chemicals that leach into soil and waterways. When Paige has confronted smokers about littering their butts they often claim they don’t put them in the bin because they’re worried about sparking a fire.
She can’t understand why they don’t just carry a portable ashtray, like those that are commonplace in Japan. However when it comes to snus and other tobacco pouches, there’s no excuse not to bin them.
“There’s no reason to actually litter them. In this area, there are bins on every corner. I found some this morning that were no more than five metres from a bin,” Paige said. “It’s become commonplace to litter.”
In December, Paige started a community group of beach cleaning volunteers which she hopes to grow — you can find details here.
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