Smoking has been prohibited by law on educational premises since 2020. The smoking ban also applies to e-cigarettes and other tobacco-free smoking products. This will ensure a more pleasant and healthier work and study environment for students and staff and will help pave the way for a smoke-free generation.
Where does the smoking ban apply?
The ban applies to the entire VU Campus, including the municipal sidewalks and sites around the O|2 Lab Building, ACTA, Amsterdam UMC (VUmc location) and Zuidas Botanical Gardens. To prevent pollution, please do not leave cigarettes on the ground.
For an overview of the entire smoke-free zone, view the map.
Let's make the VU Campus free of cigarette butts
Despite the smoking ban, cleaners still clean up many cigarette butts on campus on a daily basis. The cigarette filters are full of plastic and other hazardous substances, making them harmful for the environment. The organisation Peukenzee and Green Office VU are therefore advocating to create a VU Campus free of cigarette butts. The cigarette butts that are cleaned up are collected in a big glass cylinder in front of the Main Building, so we can see how many have been cleaned up so far.
The aim of this cause is, besides cleaning up the cigarettes, to create awareness. In the end, we hope that disposing cigarette butts in the public space can be prevented altogether.
Result cigarette butt clean-up campaign 2024
In 2024, together with Green Office VU and organisation Peukenzee, we cleaned up cigarette butts on the VU Campus. The result:
- 10 kilos of cigarette butts cleared.
- This is equivalent to 50,000 cigarette filters. Each cigarette filter equals 8 litres of water pollution, so in total we saved 400,000 litres of water pollution.
- A cigarette filter is 90% plastic, in total we collected 9 kilos of plastic.
- Peukenzee ensures that the waste is converted into material from which tables, chairs and, for example, litter bins are made.
Together towards a smoke-free and clean VU Campus!