By Kristin Edwards New cigarette disposal units will be distributed around the downtown area in Huntsville within the next few weeks. ... New cigarette disposal units will be distributed around the downtown area in Huntsville within the next few weeks. The units were built by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice after Main Street program manager Harold Hutcheson designed them to fit onto the trash receptacles in place in the square.

“Cigarette butts are always a curse - they’re everywhere, but especially downtown,” Hutcheson said. “We decided to start working on a way to change that, and nine months after we started working on an idea, we finally got one to work. “We designed them, the prison system made them, and now we’re the first to have them. The first 10 will be distributed around the downtown area over the holidays.”

The cigarette disposal units - which are made of heavy-gauge steel - were designed to fit on the trash receptacles in the downtown area. “The disposal slot on the unit actually looks like a cigarette,” Hutcheson said. “They’re designed so they can be pulled off of the cans, easily emptied through a hole in the back and replaced. “They match the trash cans and they’re heavy duty, so I think they’ll last for a while.”

The units also include a signature sign, which Hutcheson said was a clever, tongue-in-cheek way to attract attention. “The signs on the units say, ‘Feed Me! I’ll eat what you don’t smoke,’” he said. Hutcheson said plans are currently only set to place the units in the downtown area, but more may be made at a later date. “Within the next few weeks, people will just start to notice them on 11th Street, 12th Street and University Avenue,” he said. “We don’t have enough to go across the street just yet, but we will.”