“Cigarette butt litter is the world’s greatest environmental litter problem”
by BUTTsOUT integrated litter solutions

People often over look cigarette pollution for a variety of reasons:

They think that cigarettes are biodegradable and that they are not harmful because they are small. Both of these assumptions are incorrect. Cigarettes contain cellulose acetate that makes the cigarette take twenty-five years to decompose. Cigarettes may be small, but they can get into streams inhabited by marine life. The 165 chemicals in cigarettes poison fish and other creatures when the marine life tries to eat them. With in an hour after water contact, cadmium, lead and arsenic can leach into the marine environment. Scientists are finding cigarette butts in the stomachs of fish, whales, birds and other marine animals which leads to ingestion of these hazardous chemicals and blockage of the digestive system.

Cigarette litter does not harm only animals, but it harms us humans as well. Large amounts of cigarette litter leads to more street, park, and store drain cleaning. All these services are provided by the city and when the government services rise, eventually so will taxes. Litter is unattractive; therefore, the neighborhood is not as appealing for people to spend time in. Our economy will suffer from the lack of tourists, business development, and housing demand. Cigarette litter hurts humans physically also: it is a fire hazard.

Do not worry! You can put a stop to cigarette butt litter! You can start a cigarette litter prevention program. To prepare for your program, you should investigate how the litter is affecting your community, find out what the current local litter laws are, and collaborate with local groups with the same interest in preventing cigarette litter. Once you know the extent of the problem and the current laws, you can start making a draft of the new laws. Make sure to get as much help from collaborators as possible. Along with joining local activist groups, invite citizens to join. It is important to get as much of the community to work on a community problem. When creating your own litter law, you have to determine your necessities and your budget. Once you and your collaborators complete and implement your plan, evaluate the outcome in order to make it better. With these easy steps you can mold your community into what you desire.