Green Tip – Stop Littering

by Wendy Gabriel

GREEN TIP: Stop littering. According to Keep America Beautiful, cigarette butts are the most littered item in America.

Keep America Beautiful has been keeping it clean since 1953 and they know litter. Their research shows that individuals who would never consider littering an aluminum can, a piece of paper or other items may be littering cigarette butts.

Lack of awareness, lack of ash receptacles, and the increase of outdoor smoking add to the visible impact of cigarette litter. 

• An estimated 1.7 billion pounds of cigarette litter accumulates in lakes, oceans, on beaches and the rest of the planet annually, according to the New Jersey-based American Littoral Society, a coastal environmental organization.
• Cigarette filters are not biodegradable. They are made from a plastic called cellulose acetate and will eventually breakdown to a nasty toxic goop in approximately ten to fifteen years, not what we want floating around in our lakes and streams and not what we want in our playgrounds and forests.
• According to a Chicago Tribune report, How The Butts Stack Up, there is enough nicotine in 200 cigarette butts to kill an adult.
• The article Cigarette Butts Kill Fish According to New Study from Blue Living Ideas explains a recent study where the lead scientist refers to cigarette butts as not just litter but a toxic hazardous waste product. Cigarette litter is extremely hazardous to aquatic life.

If you know a smoker or are a smoker, please take responsibility for your litter. The pocket ashtray may be the perfect gift for that smoker in your life.

My Green Side’s weekly web pick:

Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful follows a practical approach that unites citizens, businesses and government to find solutions that advance our core issues of preventing litter, reducing waste, and beautifying communities.

Editor’s Note: Each Wednesday My Green Side brings Simple Tips for Green Living to The Christopher Gabriel Program. We also highlight a favorite green site each week. You can stream the segment at approximately 1020am (CDT) every Wednesday at WDAY.com.