About Your Butt
I used to have a colleague–one of those spandex-clad bicyclists–who hated cigarette butt litter. When stopped at a light beside a car, he would pick up just-dropped butts and hand them back to their owners.
I happen to think any kind of litter is disgusting. I’ve felt this way for many years, but it was reinforced during the time I lived on a street with a lot of auto and foot traffic. Bicyclists too–I don’t know why they didn’t pick up the butts like my friend.
Fossilized Filters
I’ll confess that, for many years, I really did think cigarette butts were biodegradable. (Yes, call me SUCKER.) They’re actually made of a form of plastic that decomposes very slowly. The facts are not pretty:
- 175 million pounds of tobacco-butts are stubbed out in the U.S. each year.
- Many butts end up in waterways, where they are ingested by birds, fish, whales and other creatures of the deep.
- In the back yard, a curious toddler needs to sample just three cigarette butts to become seriously ill with nicotine poisoning.
- As few as two cigarette butts can kill a small animal. (Think puppies and kittens, will you please.)
- In the U.S., more than 900 people are killed and 3,000 critically injured in fires caused by the old carelessly tossed-out cigarette butt.
If you’re still smoking, please dispose of your cigarette butts properly.
