'The Cigarette Surfboard’ Documentary To Make Rhode Island Premiere At URI

KINGSTON, RI — A documentary drawing attention to the environmental hazard of cigarette butts on beaches makes its state premiere at the University of Rhode Island.

“The Cigarette Surfboard" will be screened at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in Corless Auditorium on the Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a post on the University website.

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"The film is a collaboration between two friends who met through California’s surfing community and had a common interest in environmental issues," the post said. "Taylor Lane, who has a bachelor’s degree in industrial design, began designing and making surfboards with thousands of littered cigarette butts to inspire surfers to be good stewards of the sea. Filmmaker Ben Judkins documented the surfboard fabrication process and the impact the finished boards have had on making people aware of an ongoing environmental problem."

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Cigarette butts made up 17.8% of all trash collected from Rhode Island beaches during the International Coastal Cleanup from September to November 2025, according to the post.

Judkins will attend the URI screening and will have surfboards from the film with him, the post said.

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"Following the screening, Judkins will answer questions from the audience and take part in a panel that will include URI Professor of Oceanography J.P. Walsh and Jacqueline Rosa, an oceanography student at URI," the post said. "Local surfing and environmental organizations will also be represented at the event."

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The screening is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.

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