Mary F. Shinkle, Boone County SWC
Have you ever seen a litterbug? Anyone tossing cigarette butts qualifies. This thoughtless habit takes place at an alarming rate and, unless people change their attitudes and actions NOW, areas of our county such as interstate off-ramp shoulders and city street intersections will be heavy with a layer of discarded butts. It’s already pretty bad – all you have to do is look!
What happens after that butt gets casually flicked onto the street, nature trail, or stream-bank? Typically wind and rain carry the cigarette into the water supply, where the toxic chemicals the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many aquatic lifeforms. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with an estimated 4.5 trillion butts littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up!
The battle against cigarette litter can only be won if smokers join the fight. There are already millions of smokers who don't litter their cigarettes, and many of them are actively spreading the word to fellow smokers. Unfortunately, they are still in the minority.
If you are a considerate smoker who doesn't litter, thank you! Please continue setting a positive example. If you are a smoker who does litter, think about why you litter and whether those reasons really make sense. Perhaps you have used one or more of the following rationales for your behavior:
Cigarette butts are biodegradable. No, they are not! Filters are made of a type of acetate that never fully breaks down. Ask yourself if the cigarette you throw down is going to disappear anytime soon. You can do your own experiment by putting a cigarette filter in an outdoor planter (use a string or pin to secure it), and see how long it stays there… be patient because this will end up being a long-term experiment. However long you finally decide it takes for a cigarette to decompose, ask yourself if you would like to see all such "biodegradable" items thrown on the ground (items like cardboard, newspapers, tissues, paper grocery bags, etc). It would not be pretty.
What else am I supposed to do with them? There are many ways to dispose of cigarettes without littering them on the ground. If you don’t want to carry disposable ashtrays, improvise using such things as film containers, metal mint containers, regular tin foil, or anything else that’s handy. Store your butt in one of these temporary ashtrays until you can dispose of it properly. If you do not have a container handy, stub out your cigarette, making ABSOLUTELY sure it is out and that there is no burning paper or tobacco, and throw it in the nearest trash can. A note to motorists – please use your car ashtray! If it is OK to put in your mouth, it is OK to put in your ashtray.
It is harmless – it’s just a small cigarette butt. Of course, this is the same argument that leads to lots of "harmless" little things adding up to very harmful big things. Cigarettes are by far the most littered item in the world. Billions of cigarettes are littered every day. Costly, and often deadly fires are caused every year by littered cigarettes and the environmental impact is significant.
Some states are taking a stand by prosecuting people for intentionally throwing lighted materials into the environment. When you throw even one cigarette, you are part of the problem.
It serves everybody right for making me smoke outside and taxing my cigarettes. Smokers who litter give a bad name to all smokers and make non-smoking activists even more dedicated to increasing smoking bans and raising taxes. Several universities have recently banned smoking on campus not because of health issues but because of litter issues. In these cases, considerate smokers lost out because of the behavior of their littering counterparts.
Everybody else does it. This lame excuse just doesn’t fly anymore and hasn't worked since kindergarten.
Everybody has a vice, this is mine. That may be true, however if we all decide that none of us will change our ways until everyone is perfect, then we can all look forward to some dismal times and none of us should be complaining about it. Or, we can be our own judges of what we think is right and act accordingly. If you think littering is wrong - don't do it! ! Don't use the excuse that other people are doing it to justify behavior that you know is wrong.
Finally, remember, this is our community, not an ashtray! Don’t be a litterbug and show pride by not littering – anything -- ever!