The world is NOT your personal ashtray
Mood:
irritated
I am FURIOUS! I am so mad I could just spit. I was out checking life jacket this morning when a gentleman smoking a cigarette approached me. Before he spoke he proceeded to throw his cigarette butt down on the ground. Before I let him get a word out I asked him nicely to pick up the butt and throw in the trash can just 20 yards from where we were standing. He then had the nerve to ask me why. I told him that it was littering. He said said, "It's fine...they are biodegradable." My temper started to flare and I said, "No sir they are not biodegradable. The butt that you just threw on the ground contains plastics and deadly chemicals that can harm the environment and animals. Plus it is unsightly. You have two choices. You can either pick it up and throw it away in a trash can or I can write you a ticket for littering." Disgusted, he then picks up the butt and throws it in the trash can and then turns to me and calls me a bitch.
This is one of my pet peeves. Not being called a bitch but people tossing their cigarettes out car windows or throwing them on the ground. My sister is apparently bad at doing this. After spending a weekend with her in NC I saw her toss countless butts out the window or just drop them where she stood. You would think that someone who claims to love nature or has a park ranger for a sister who has fought countless forest fires started by such nonsense, would know better.
The excuse I am making for her and others is that they are just not educated enough to know better. Many people truly believe they are biodegradable and cause no harm. So below is an article from a woman named Elizabeth Creehan. I am hoping that maybe it will spark something in people to make them change their evil ways. Our world is a beautiful place. Lets try to keep it that way.
STOP LITTERING CIGARETTE BUTTS
by Elizabeth Creehan
4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered in our parks, sidewalks and public places yearly, according to Keep America Beautiful. Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the United States.
Many people casually flick a cigarette butt out of a car window or toss aside a cigarette while walking, not thinking of the harm this might cause. One carelessly tossed cigarette can cause significant damage; imagine the compounded effect of 4.5 trillion cigarette butts. Cigarette litter is not just an aesthetic eyesore; it causes significant fire and environmental damage.
Cigarette butts that aren't properly extinguished can — and do – start fires. The following cigarette litter tragedies could easily have been avoided:
In January 2001, a motorist driving along Interstate 8 in San Diego County flicked a cigarette butt onto the center median, sparking a fire that eventually burned more than 10,000 acres, destroyed 16 homes and charred 64 vehicles.
In September 2002, a wildfire that scorched 247 acres on the Camp Pendleton, California base was started by a cigarette butt tossed by a passing motorist.
In March 2004, cigarette butts tossed in a jammed trash chute in Richmond, Virginia, destroyed 26 buildings and caused $20 million in damage.
Most cigarette filters are not biodegradable as many people presume. 95 percent of filters are made of plastic cellulose acetate and take many years to decompose.
To make matters worse, there are 165 chemicals in cigarettes that birds and other small animals ingest thinking that the butts are food. Ingestion can lead to starvation or malnutrition if the butts block the intestinal tract and prevent digestion, or accumulate in the digestive tract, making the animal feel full and lessening its desire to feed.
All the costly fire and environmental damage could be avoided if people heeded the same attentiveness to cigarette disposal as they do to throwing away other trash.
You can make a difference in reducing the effects of cigarette litter whether you're a smoker or not.
If you do not smoke, help educate others about the dangers of improperly disposed cigarette butts.
If you are a smoker, always carefully extinguish your cigarette... never toss a still smoldering cigarette butt. Also consider using a pocket ashtray. These ashtrays are very thin, foil lined and trap the smell inside. You can also use film or mint containers as improvised storage until you can properly dispose of the cigarette butts later.
Through education concerning the perils of cigarette litter, nonsmokers and smokers can join forces to save wildlife and prevent serious fires.