Cigarette filters are made from a form of plastic called cellulose acetate. It is suggested that there are in excess of 4 trillion cigarette butts dropped in the environment every single year. This is a hard figure to verify but it’s safe to say that the figure is in the trillions.

That’s a staggering amount and a difficult number to visualise. Consider this… that’s way more stars than there are in our galaxy and if you were to lay every cigarette butt dropped in a year end to end they would stretch to the moon and back more than 100 times!

Now consider that a cigarette butt can take 10 years or more to break down. That means that there are likely 30+ trillion cigarette butts in the environment right this second. All potentially breaking up into smaller and smaller pieces.

Polluting our rivers and oceans. Killing wildlife and vegetation. Entering the food chain and therefore impacting the health of smokers and non smokers alike.

SCARY STUFF!

Cigarette butts are not only made of plastic, they are also filled with toxic chemicals. Over 6,000 of them. 50+ have been proven to be carcinogenic to humans and many more are deadly to wildlife.

It’s suggested that the chemicals found in just one cigarette butt can leach out and contaminate approximately 7.5 liters of water within one hour. This contaminated water is lethal to aquatic life.

Many smokers are well aware of the global threat of single-use plastics and are actively changing their habits to reduce the amount of plastic they buy or use in their everyday lives.

Unfortunately the vast majority are not aware that the filter in their cigarettes is made of a form of plastic called cellulose acetate.

Dropped on the ground, these cigarette butts can pollute the environment for 10 years or more as they break up. They will never truly disappear.

This reason comes up time and time again and is a clear symptom of our culture of convenience. Humans inevitably seek the easiest option. The path of least resistance. 

When confronted about flicking cigarette butts on the ground I often hear smokers say ‘Well where am I supposed to put it? There are no bins around’.

Closely linked to ‘not enough bins’ is the overpowering smell of cigarette butts and wanting to feel clean.

Most smokers don’t want to hang on to their cigarette butts because they acknowledge that they are smelly and quite dirty.

Some smokers already feel a little self conscious about smelling of cigarettes and will try to disguise the odour with aftershave, perfume and/or breath mints.

Holding on to their cigarette butts without being able to mask the smell or contain the mess is not an option for most.

Force of habit is a major factor for most smokers. That final flick of the cigarette butt at the end feels an integral part of the pleasure of smoking.

It acts almost like a full stop. Putting a line under that break or that part of the journey or dealing with that latest piece of stress.

Let’s face it, most of us have made bad decisions when we are drunk.

Disposing of your cigarette butt properly when you’re out enjoying a few drinks, having something to eat, when deep in conversation or having a dance, is probably the last thing to enter your head.

There are some people who, regardless of what information or evidence you provide or how nicely you ask, just don’t care. They don’t care about others, the environment or even themselves in some cases.

They may also have a bit of a rebel streak inside , one that gives them a propensity for challenging authority even if it is just by flicking their cigarette butts on the ground.

Attitudes towards littering in general varies from country to country and this is particularly true for cigarette butts.

If your local environment – the street where you live, the roads you drive along, the town centre you visit – is covered in litter including cigarette butts then it appears socially acceptable to do the same thing.

Litter breeds litter.

Observing others litter as you grow up (parents, siblings), watching friends do it when you are at school or just hanging out reinforces the habit.

This has got to be one of the oddest reasons given that I’ve heard but I hear it regularly.

I also hear “It’s the council’s job. I pay may taxes”, or “It gives you litter pickers something to do”.

Easy access to disposal is essential to tackling the issue of  litter, particularly cigarette butts.

More, clearly defined bins specifically designed for cigarette waste are needed at transition points (e.g. entrances to stores, pubs, restaurants, bus stops etc.) and other areas of high footfall. Emptied at the right time.

Personal ashtrays can also play an important role.

In an ideal world the tobacco industry will step up, share the responsibility for the mess left by their products and help clean it up. If they won’t do it voluntarily then government needs to hold them accountable by introducing appropriate legislation.

Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR is the concept of brand owners and manufacturers taking environmental responsibility for their products and associated packaging when it becomes waste.

This can be done in a number of ways including take back programmes, funding clean up and disposal schemes, developing/funding recycling and reuse programmes.

In an ideal world the tobacco industry will step up, share the responsibility for the mess left by their products and help clean it up

It is impossible to truly tackle littering without proper enforcement of the law.

Enforcement should always be considered as the final option.

If every effort has been made to provide easy access for disposal and awareness initiatives about what is acceptable both socially and legally are continually present then there is no excuse for littering.

There must be seen to be consequences for actions that break the law.