Patrons of San Rafael’s bars and nightclubs this past holiday season weren’t imagining things if they spotted a smoking bulldog at the bottom of their pints.

The fictional canine named “Oscar” graces thousands of coasters distributed to local drinking establishments as the centerpiece of San Rafael Clean’s new push to discourage cigarette butt littering.

The city-sponsored group has been working the past couple years on various campaigns to reduce the amount of cigarette litter in the city. Officials hope the latest entry leaves a lasting impact while imparting its environmental message.

“We thought if we put them in bars and it would be under their drink it would definitely make an impact,” said campaign volunteer Libby McQuiston.

She said previous efforts included pocket ashtrays and recepticles for cigarette disposal for shopkeepers, though many were stolen when they weren’t brought inside at night.

The new coasters border the sketched, somber bulldog with the refrain, “Don’t trash San Rafael. Put your cigarette butts in the can.” 

McQuiston, whose artist son, Evan Larsen, 29, designed the coaster, took on distribution duties for the $800 program with other volunteers just before Christmas. She said she’d hit just about every one of the city’s pubs and has had some enthusiastic responses to date.

Calls of positive feedback, McQuiston said, have come from Trevor Riches, owner of Trevor’s Pub, and an offer from Tony Crafter, owner of Mayflower Pub, to talk to beer distributors about helping with additional funding for the program.

“Whenever someone sees me picking (cigarette butts) up, they think it’s disgusting that people can’t pick them up in a responsible way,” McQuiston said. “They’re just littered on sidewalks and in treewells.”

Cigarette butts represent the number one item picked up on the annual Coastal Cleanup day and take, on average, 1.5 years to break down, according to statistics provided by San Rafael Clean.

“It was a new one on me and I’ve been in this business for 30 years,” said Shelly, a bartender at Pete’s 881 Club, of the coaster campaign.

Shelly, who declined to provide her last name, said although their establishment provided a smoking kiosk in the back patio with ashtrays, customers tend to enjoy having something to entertain them with their drinks.

“They do read them,” she said. “It’s not like trash. I think it’s a good suggestion.”

McQuiston said about 2,000 of an initial production of 5,000 coasters have been distributed so far.

With such a small amount, McQuiston has been asking local proprieters to add recycling to their sustainable goals for clean city streets.

“I encourage them to re-use them,” she said. “We have a limited supply.”