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GREENSBORO — Seeing the burned dregs of cigarettes crushed into Greensboro sidewalks irked Sherry Adams in the two years since she joined Downtown Greensboro Inc.

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In August the group finally did something about it: Gave ashtrays to smokers.

The difference? About 20 percent fewer butts in gutters, on sidewalks and along storefronts, according to a news release.

And this past week DGI placed 12 cigarette butt receptacles around South Elm Street.

"With all the restaurants and people that work downtown, we do have a lot of cigarette butts," said Adams, vice president of DGI.

A $2,500 grant from Keep America Beautiful paid for the ashtrays. Cleaning crews counted littered butts for a week before giving out the ashtrays in August, and re-counted in September.

"I think it will keep it nice, a little thing like that," said James Rudd, who smoked Monday afternoon on a bench along Elm Street.

He tossed his cigarette into a nearby urn.

Adams wondered if smokers just needed a place like that to snub butts.

"You don't want to toss them into a regular trash can," said Adams, a nonsmoker. "I think they wanted to put them somewhere else, but just didn't have receptacles."

A place for the cigarette waste also helps those keeping downtown clean, said Larry Owens, who manages the cleaning crews. He estimated a 20 percent drop in cigarette butt litter after the ashtrays were handed out.

"It's a lot easier, as far as cleaning the sidewalks," he said, "and keeping them out of the ground and the storm drains."

Contact Gerald Witt at 382-8522, or gwitt@news-record.com