World Cup-themed receptacles aid coastal city's 'butt revolution'

Six World Cup-themed cigarette butt collection bins have been placed along the boardwalk beside Qinhuangdao's Dream Bay to coincide with the soccer extravaganza unfolding in Russia.

Located in the western coastal area of Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, the beach covers nearly 400,000 square meters, and the boardwalk stretches more than 4 kilometers.

The 2-meter-high glassy bins, about 60 cm long and 30 cm wide, are divided into two parts, with two teams' names printed on the top of each side.

Twelve favorites to win the 2018 Russia World Cup trophy, including Brazil and Germany, were selected by the Dream Bay management committee to have their names printed on the bins, which were installed on June 14, the first day of the tournament.

Liang Jun, the committee's office director, said the cigarette butt collectors are a positive response to the city's "butt revolution", which was proposed in July to help collect discarded cigarette butts on the street. It's also an unusual attempt at environmental protection.

"We want to encourage travelers not to drop cigarette butts on the beach by putting up these eye-catching boxes," he said. "Throwing the stub into the box is like a quick guess. The visitor chooses which team he supports and then puts the stub into the corresponding partitioned box."

The 12 teams named on the boxes will be replaced with the top eight before the quarterfinals. In turn, those will be replaced by the final two competitors for the title, Liang said.

After the World Cup ends in July, Liang said, the images will be changed to include other themes, such as beautiful Qinhuangdao attractions.

Fifty themed trash receptacles also appeared in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, along the city's Chang'an avenue in early February.

Questions such as "would you like something cold to drink?" were printed on top of the bins, while two or three answers were offered.