Using 21.6 pounds of cigarette litter collected from Saturday’s “Blooms, not Butts” tobacco litter pickup event, two groups of competing students transformed the litter into displays Tuesday afternoon.

“What we wanted to do was find a positive way to let people know about the smoke-free campus policy that will be in effect in January,” said Michele Guerra, director of the UI Wellness Center. “We also wanted to draw attention to the fact that tobacco litter is an environmental hazard.”

Two teams stationed in the Courtyard Cafe at the Illini Union had to design sculptures or models, 80 percent of which had to be constructed from collected tobacco litter, following the theme “Benefits of a Smoke-Free Campus.”

One team built a model of the Quad out of cigarette butts, including a model of Foellinger Auditorium at the end and a willow tree in the middle.

“The main Quad represents the whole campus,” said Donny Kwandindo, a member of the team and graduate of the University. “It shows the attempt to make a smoke-free campus. The willow tree shows how the litter seeps into the grass and into the trunks of the trees.”

The second team displayed four glass vases holding a few flowers. Two of the vases were filled with butts while another vase held flowers that were constructed with cigarette butts and wire.

The team with the model of the Quad won first place and received $225, Guerra said. Everybody who competed received a free pass for healthy cooking and group fitness classes at the Wellness Center.

Each display was judged on its use of litter, its creativity and how well it expressed the theme.

“We wanted to find a unique way to display the tobacco litter,” Guerra said. “Other campuses have put the litter in glass cylinders, taken a photograph and just shown it. We thought it would be a more interesting way to display the litter by having people create stuff out of it.”

Paula Chmiel, program assistant of the UI Wellness Center, came up with the idea of doing something artistic with the litter.

“It’s a positive way to tell people more about the smoke-free campus instead of just showing displays that would be impactful,” Chmiel said.

Shravan Gupta, member of the “Blooms not Butts” committee and sophomore in Engineering, said this way of showing the 21.6 pounds of litter has more shock value.

“When people see this big collection of tobacco litter in one place, it opens their minds to how much litter there actually is on campus,” Gupta said.

Before the event, Guerra said she and the Student Well-being Committee, a subcommittee of the Wellness Center, worked to form the event in a way that did not reflect negatively on those who smoke. They framed the theme, visuals and overall message to focus entirely on the litter.

“We’re not targeting the smokers — we’re targeting the litter,” Chmiel said.

Gupta said more than 45 volunteers in 12 teams of five people participated in Saturday’s pickup. Most of the volunteers were from the University’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega and the master’s of public health degree program.

“We had a lot of support from health groups, and the remaining people were random friends and co-workers who were interested in this sort of thing,” Gupta said.

The teams covered nine different areas across campus. The top four were Gregory Hall, the Undergraduate Library, the Student Dining and Residential Programs building and Grainger Engineering Library. Of the 21.6 pounds of litter that was collected, 15 came from those locations, Guerra said.

Jacqui can be reached at [email protected].