# Homemade Outdoor Ashtrays?



## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

Has anyone ever made outdoor ashtrays for people that smoke? I'm getting really fed up wih finding cigarette butts in my yard. :grump: I don't know why it is, but it seems a lot of smokers don't see the problem in just stamping out their ciggie no matter where they are. Those things are NOT biodegradeable, people!!! :flame:

The thing is, we get a lot of people over here, and I can't always tell people beforehand not to put them out in the yard. I need something obvious. And please don't suggest they smoke inside; it smells disgusting and I don't want my house smelling like a cheap bar. And the smell lingers forever in everything, no matter how many windows you crack open.

Anyhow, rant over. LOL What can I put in my yard in a few locations to encourage people to butt out there instead of on my driveway or near the doorstep/garage? It would have to be something that keeps water from getting in, as I would leave it outside all the time. I do put out a can of sand, but it tends to get full of rainwater. It's also on the ground and I think a lot of people just don't see it. Maybe I should just drill a few holes in the bottom of the can, and write a BIG sign that says, please butt out here?


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

I have picked up the butt and handed it back to the person who stomped it out and told them to put it in the garbage can. I make it quite clear that we do not smoke and if they must do so please obey the rules of our house.


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## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

That's the thing, though, I don't smoke, so I'm not always out there when they go outside for a smoke. Sometimes it's the dh's friends who sit out there with him while he BBQs or they work on the cars, etc. I wouldn't recommend putting freshly tamped out butts in a garbage can though, it might catch fire.


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## silentcrow (Mar 15, 2005)

Would a flower pot of some kind, filled with sand, work? We used to use them where I used to work. I've never been that rude at others' houses. I usually knock the cherry off, squish it, and put the butt in my pocket to dispose of later.


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## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

silentcrow, yes, good idea, I could use those too. I wonder if there's a way of getting them up closer to waist level, so people can see them? Or maybe put a little sign above them. The cans on the ground are apparently invisible.


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## Jalopy (Feb 23, 2008)

DD ... You can use this poor mans method of cutting a log the length you want and set it up on end and put the sand filled flower pot on it and any signage that you deem necessary to get the point across.


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

DixyDoodle, we don't smoke either and when friends who come over do I make it quite clear to them that there is a ashtray provided for them outside to put their butts in, not my yard.


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## mtnest (Mar 11, 2008)

Depends on how "pretty" you want it but you can use anything from the suggested log end, concrete blocks, small garden pedestal available at the local nursery and put a flower pot of sand in it. Don't use potting soil(contains wood pieces and makes a good fire starter) and put some drain holes in the bottom of the container if it is a coffee can etc. If you have the space and want to dress it up, fill a large deck potter with soil, place smaller flower pot in center filled with sand. Plant flowers around the smaller pot in the large pot below. add a whimsical sign telling folks to "put butts here" and you're all set. Depending on how large of pots you use, this could easily be about hip height on the average person. You could also use a piece of 6" pvc pipe/log end stuck into a large planter with a small pot hot glued into/onto the top. The pvc could be any height you needed it to be and planting slow growing vines in the lower pot would make it look pretty. Make sure to drill a few holes near the soil level to help with drainage if you use the pipe and roughen up the outside of the pipe so the vines have something to grab onto.


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## homesteadforty (Dec 4, 2007)

Provide a smoking area and point it out to any guests. As for butt disposal, a metal coffee can with a quick coat of spray paint works well... cheap, easy to care for and recycled use. If you want something a little nicer looking, get one of the little planter/sand pails... they are often available at the local dollar store. Put just a little sand in the bottom so you can dump sand and all. With bigger containers or more sand you have to take the time to pick out the cigarrette butts.

I have to agree that I hate picking up peoples cigarrette butts... it's gross, inconsiderate and an eyesore... and I'm a two pack a day smoker. If there is no container around, I flip all the ash/tobacco off my cigarrette and carry the filter until I find an appropriate receptacle to dispose of it.

_added_ Be careful: do not allow water to collect in the container (with cigarrette butts in it)... the resultant "nicotine tea" is poisonous to insects, animals and people.


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Here's a link to a crafty "butt can" for sale in Lancaster PA on craigslist. 

http://lancaster.craigslist.org/art/660153138.html

Maybe you can make something like that?


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Flower pots with sand, small buckets with sand hanging from one of those metal hooks you stick in the ground, clean out with a pooper scooper.


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## tamsam (May 12, 2006)

I saw a sign over a pot once that was to thr point. "PUT YOUR BUTT HERE OR GET IT KICKED" That has always stuck in my mind. And when you hit one of those filters with a lawn mower you have instant snow. Sam


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## PETSNEGGS (Oct 7, 2005)

I have to say that even hubby ticks me off when he puts them in the yard... not often but his brother and friends sure do... since hubby smokes ( outside only) I guess he feels rude asking people not to put them in the yard... I always end up ging out and picking them up... YUCK! he usually field strips them also... I do have a little metal bucket with sand in it for them but yep water fills it up and with a hole in the bottom the sand runs out... hummm I am also still looking for the perfect butt can but,,, I did see a great one... someone put an old toilet in their yard with a sign painted on the lid that said "BUTTS here Please" ...LOL... I thought is was great but hubby said NO way to that idea...


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## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

> I saw a sign over a pot once that was to thr point. "PUT YOUR BUTT HERE OR GET IT KICKED"


LOL

Some great ideas, guys, thanks so much! 

Dh also smokes, and has also been guilty of dropping butts. I told him last year the kids were going to pick them up for him........at 5 cents a butt. He said, no prob. The kids donned some rubber gloves and went to work. They each made $75 off Dad. This year, Dad has been a little more careful. We told him that this year, due to inflation, it's going to be 10 cents a butt.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

Any sort of can or pot with holes in the bottom.

I use a terra-cotta flower pot that I painted the outside with vines and flowers. 

Add felt to the inside bottom so that water can run out, but sand won't...then fill with sand. As someone else already mentioned, you can clean it with a kitty litter scooper.

Place said item on any kind of stand. Old houseplant stand, half a log, cheap nightstand...any sort of yard-sale item that will bring it up to about hip level. Smokers tend not to use them when they are on the ground, not because they don't SEE them, but because they do not know what use it is being put too. For all they know, you might be trying to start cactus seeds that need sand in those pots. Then you'll be mad at them for burning your seeds.

For the garage (which generally gets filled with smokers whenever DH is doing anything) I saved a bunch of tuna cans, cat-food cans, any can about the size of a tuna can, cleaned them out and scrubbed off the paper, then used blunt nosed pliers to make "dents" around the edges. (3 "dents" per can) Since these are cheap and plentiful, I made a boatload of them and put them ALL OVER the garage. I dare a smoker to find a place that is more than 3 feet from a home-made ashtray in my garage.

Whimsical signs will help direct smokers to the proper areas, while keeping their addiction from becoming a butt of contention.

Of course, the cheapest, easiest and most cost effective way to deal with the problem is a large, red sign at the beginning of your driveway that reads, "No Smokers Allowed". However, I realize this might become an issue if the main butt donater is your DH. 

Peace,
Caliann


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## Sand Flat Bob (Feb 1, 2007)

If I have "friends" who throw their cigarette butts on the ground, they become my ex-friends and are never invited to my farm again.

Bob


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## lilmommajnn (Aug 7, 2002)

Get an old chair. Prepare the flowerpot with the felt in the bottom and fill it with sand or kitty litter. Make a sign that says "Plant your butt here". Easy to clean with a litter scoop.


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## EDDIE BUCK (Jul 17, 2005)

You folks ought to *LIGHTEN UP* on us respectable smokers. After all, Its our *BUTTS* that ain't gonna be round much longer,anyway, then you won't have us to pick on anymore. Hear that lisbeth? comeing to join you honey. Your Marlboro man is coming home. lol Eddie


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## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

I saw some industrial cigarette disposals that were cool, but they were costly! It was a container that was completely enclosed with only a small hole at the top to dispose the butts.

I made my own version by painting an all metal cookie can ( you can use most any metal can with a tight fitting metal lid) then drilling a hole on top just big enough to drop the butt in. The metal lid can be removed, sand or inexpensive kitty litter put inside and on the front I have painted "Park your butt here". I do think I want to add "Or get yours kicked", lol. That is great 

The canister works great, no water gets in and it isn't messy and it's pretty much spill proof.


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## EasyDay (Aug 28, 2004)

CaliannG said:


> Of course, the cheapest, easiest and most cost effective way to deal with the problem is a large, red sign at the beginning of your driveway that reads, "No Smokers Allowed". However, I realize this might become an issue if the main butt donater is your DH.
> 
> Peace,
> Caliann


You reminded me that I saw a sign that said, "If you're smoking beyond this point, you'd better be on FIRE!"


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## diamondtim (Jun 10, 2005)

Trixters_muse said:


> I saw some industrial cigarette disposals that were cool, but they were costly! It was a container that was completely enclosed with only a small hole at the top to dispose the butts.
> 
> I made my own version by painting an all metal cookie can ( you can use most any metal can with a tight fitting metal lid) then drilling a hole on top just big enough to drop the butt in. The metal lid can be removed, sand or inexpensive kitty litter put inside and on the front I have painted "Park your butt here". I do think I want to add "Or get yours kicked", lol. That is great
> 
> The canister works great, no water gets in and it isn't messy and it's pretty much spill proof.


You could make a ******* version of those fancy smoking urns with a 5 gallon pail, its lid, some PVC pipe (flange, pipe and a 90 degree elbow), PVC adhesive and a large rock. Paint and decorate to fit your needs.


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## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

> You folks ought to LIGHTEN UP on us respectable smokers. After all, Its our BUTTS that ain't gonna be round much longer,anyway, then you won't have us to pick on anymore.


The thread is about the smokers that AREN'T being respectful. As for smoking in general, if everyone on the planet quit right now, I couldn't be happier. I'm probably biased, though: my father died of smoking-related emphysema when I was 7 years old.


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## Horselover (Mar 22, 2006)

Do you all have TEXAS ROADHOUSE Restaurants in your area? They have the neatest cigarette butt holder. They are located outside and are buckets welded with horseshoes and sit on a stand like. They are filled with sand. i want one and I don't smoke. 
They are just sooo neat. 

Joyce


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## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

No, unfortunately not! I have seen soem pretty nifty commercial ones, though, but I bet they would be expensive. And also, wouldn't look quite the same sitting at a farmhouse. I think I'm going to go with a homemade one.  Just have to decide which one, exactly.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

Plastic coffee can w/ a small "V" cut into the top near the edge.
Little bit of kitty litter in the bottom.
When full, just toss the whole thing.


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

My HUSBAND is the offender in this instance. He throws them all over the driveway!! GRRRRRR


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## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

It is even worse in winter than it is in summer. Because, you know, when that snow melts all those butts will too, right? At least you can't see them under 6' of snow.

Now, I used to be quite a smoker. I would still smoke if I didn't have a daughter. But I always had courtesy. Maybe other than your can and accompanying sign, you could put up a second large sign saying that due to fire risks, cigarette butts must hit the receptacle?

Kayleigh


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## Countrystyle (Aug 24, 2003)

I use old metal coffee cans with holes in bottom, few rocks for weight (it's windy here) and have nailed them on fence posts in several spots around the yard, garden, by the chicken house and keep one on the back porch too.


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## homedad (Feb 19, 2008)

When i see someone discard a butt on the ground i usually tell them they dropped something. Then they ask me what they are supposed to do with it. That just opens them up for my little talk. i was a smoker for quite some time and always rolled the cherry off and discarded the butt in the proper receptacle. Its a dirty habit and even more dirty when they throw them on the ground. I have no room for "Litterbugs."


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