When I am hosting a large party or family reunion, I have no problem banishing the smokers from smoking in my house or garage. However, I am not keen on picking up cigarette butts from the yard or even out of a container I have provided outside.
Now, I fill a smaller metal coffee can (with a plastic snap-on lid) half full with sand, then put that can and lid inside a larger empty metal coffee can with the same type of lid. My guests are informed that the smaller can is where all cigarette butts and matches go, and please use both cans as provided without separating.
The lids eliminate air needed by the smoldering butts to burn so I am comfortable that the risk of fire is kept to a minimum. When the gathering is over, I simply toss both cans without ever opening either of them, and am not bothered by the mess of the ashes, the butts or the smell.
I have witnessed several fires started by cigarettes. Years ago, my sister came up with the same coffee can solution for me. I'm a non-smoker but most of my extended family smokes. She gave me a coffee can filled with sand and gravel. It sits on my back porch (where everyone goes to smoke). Several times, the old butts have started smoldering when someone throws a lit cigarette in the can. The lid idea is good to cut off oxygen.
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