Up & Coming Weekly

NOVEMBER 4-10, 2009 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Yes, Cigarette Butts Are Litter Too! E/The Environmental Magazine Has anyone ever studied the environmental impact of discarded cigarettes? I'm constantly appalled at the number of drivers I see pitching their butts out their car windows. — Ned Jordan, via email It's true that littered cigarette butts are a public nuisance, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The filters on cigarettes — four fifths of all cigarettes have them — are made of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that is very slow to degrade in the environment. A typical cigarette butt can take anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to decompose, depending on environ- mental conditions. But beyond the plastic, these filters — which are on ciga- rettes in the first place to absorb contaminants to prevent them from going into the lungs — contain trace amounts of toxins like cadmium, arsenic and lead. Thus when smokers discard their butts improperly — out the car window or off the end of a pier or onto the sidewalk below — they are essentially toss- ing these substances willy-nilly into the environment. Studies done by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and even the tobacco industry itself show that these contaminants can get into soils and waterways, harm or kill living organisms and generally degrade surrounding ecosystems. While individual discarded cigarette butts may be small, they add up to a huge problem. Some 5.5 trillion cigarettes are consumed worldwide each year. The non-profit Keep America Beautiful reports that cigarette butts constitute as much as one-third of all litter nationwide when measured by the num- ber of discarded items, not volume. According to the Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit that advocates for stronger protection of marine ecosys- tems, cigarette butts are the most commonly littered item found on America's salt and fresh water beaches according to feedback received by hun- dreds of thousands of volunteers taking part in the group's annual Coastal Clean-up event. While the tobacco industry may have its hands full just trying to stay afloat in the maelstrom of ongoing bad public- ity, critics say it should be doing more to prevent cigarette butt litter. "Just as beverage manufacturers contribute to anti-litter campaigns, and have invested in public education on litter issues, so too should the tobacco industry," says Kathleen Register, founder and executive director of Clean Virginia Waterways, a non-profit that has spearheaded the fight against cigarette butt litter in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. She adds that cigarette manufacturers "need to take an active and responsible role in educating smokers about this issue and devote resources to the cleanup of cigarette litter." Register suggests a number of strategies including put- ting anti-litter messages on all cigarette packaging and ad- vertisements, distributing small, free portable ashtrays, and placing and maintaining outdoor ashtrays in areas where smokers congregate. She also suggests putting an extra tax on cigarette sales, with proceeds going toward anti-litter education efforts and to defray the costs of cleaning up butts. "Picking up littered cigarette butts costs schools, businesses and park agencies money," she says. "By taxing smokers for anti-litter educational efforts, some of the costs of cleaning up cigarette butts will shift onto smokers." One way or another, Register hopes, smokers will learn that the Earth is not one giant ashtray. CONTACTS: CDC, www.cdc.gov; Clean Virginia Waterways, www.longwood.edu/cleanva. SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. Studies show that contaminants from cigarette butts can get into soils and waterways, harm or kill living organisms and generally degrade surrounding ecosystems.Photo credit: Jason Means, courtesy Flickr. Falcon Children·s Hom Falcon Children·s Home • FCH is in need of items such as school supplies, canned food, paper products (paper towels and toilet paper.) • Individuals and businesses are invited to participate in Harvest Train • Donation Deadline: Friday, Nov. 20 Harvest Train Itinerary: A caravan of cars, buses, and vans will form a parade at 9:00 that will end at the J.A. Culbreth Auditorium where a program will be presented by the kids at 11:00. Lunch will follow the program on the campus of Falcon Childrens Home. For more information call 910.980.1065 www.falconchildrenshome.com Join us for a Harvest Train on Tuesday, November 24 • 8:45 am-1:00 pm Join us for a Harvest Train on Tuesday, November 24 • 8:45 am-1:00 pm Join us for a Harvest Train on Tuesday, November 24 • 8:45 am-1:00 pm

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