Discarded cigarette butts are rife in the Illawarra, tarnishing our major attractions and spoiling the natural environment.But a new approach to the perennial problem will aim to banish stray butts once and for all, as Wollongong City Council cracks down on illegal littering. The council has officially registered Wollongong as a butt-free area, as part of a program involving nine cities, according to environmental education co-ordinator Mike McKeon."It's an initiative to try and reduce the cigarette butts that people throw on the ground."They look unsightly, they end up in waterways, they take years to break down and they're a fire hazard," Mr McKeon said.The latest initiative follows several council schemes aimed at minimising littering of butts."It's an individual thing. People must take responsibility for their own actions, just like any general litter," Mr McKeon said.A stand will be set up at Wollongong Harbour this week so that people can sign a pledge not to illegally dispose of their finished cigarettes."We will be at Wollongong Harbour on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, between 10am and 3pm."People can come down and pick up their free cigarette butt containers and, if they choose to, sign a pledge not to throw their butts on the ground," Mr McKeon said.The council indicated it would resort to fines if smokers continued to ignore the disposal message."This is not an anti-smoking campaign, it's more about the ways in which we dispose them," Mr McKeon said."There are fines for doing this: $200 for a lit cigarette or $80 for one that has been put out ... you never know when you're being watched."In Sydney, the problem has now become so bad that in several cases, smoking has been banned from certain public places."Our sporting fields, pubs and clubs are already under that umbrella but at this stage public places haven't really been put out as far as banning people from smoking," he said.For more information, visit the campaign website, www.notagoodlook.com.au.