No ifs, ands or butts about this board

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A one of a kind paddleboard ventures into the waters off Beirut on a mission to clean up Lebanon's shores.

What's unique about it?

This paddleboard is made almost entirely from cigarette butts.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF RECYCLE LEBANON AND ECO SOUK, JOSLIN KEHDI, SAYING:

"This is a way that we can really try to awaken the public."

Joslin Kehdi is the founder of Recycle Lebanon, an environmental organisation that teamed up with the American University of Beirut.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF RECYCLE LEBANON AND ECO SOUK, JOSLIN KEHDI, SAYING:

"This surf board has 12,000 cigarette butts on it, we've been collecting them together with AUB Neighborhood Initiative."

In 2016 the organization began collecting cigarette butts from bins installed around the AUB campus.

The stand-up board is made from low-density styrofoam, 2mm cork sheet, ecological resin and fiberglass, and 12,000 cigarette butts.

For Architect and Co-ordinator of AUB Neighbourhood Initiative, Mona Hallak, it's about keeping things natural:

(Sound bite) (Arabic) ARCHITECT AND CO-ORDINATOR OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE, MONA HALLAK:

"Even the resin that we used is an eco-friendly resin made from 40% of natural materials, it is the most expensive resin in the world. We got everything so that this board can be as eco-friendly as possible and to use it to celebrate preserving nature."

The board is being used in the organisation's mission to clean up the country's shores. But they're not stopping there, another board is already in the works.

Figures published by AUB Neighborhood Initiative and Recycle Lebanon show Lebanon ranked third in the world for the highest cigarette consumption, a fact which hasn't escaped Mona Hallak.

(Sound bite) (Arabic) ARCHITECT AND CO-ORDINATOR OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE, MONA HALLAK:

"The importance of this board is that we will use it to clean the shores, we made the board from what we are throwing in the sea, to clean the sea."