Cigarette Butts: One Huge Problem, Two Solutions
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 10.20.05
Warning: This post contains some big statistics. According to ButtsOut, the world annually discards about 4.3 trillion cigarette butts. By some estimates, 30% of all cigarettes smoked end up as litter, and although small in themselves, can create over 500,000 tonnes of pollution per year. Traditional butts are made of “synthetic polymer cellulose acetate” and never degrade, only breaking apart after roughly 12 years. Yet within an hour of contact with water, cigarette butts can begin leaching chemicals such as cadmium, lead and arsenic into the marine environment. And that's not counting for the fact they also end up in in the intestines of “fish, whales, birds and other marine animals”. So what to do? New Scientist recently reported on a British company, Stanelco, who through the takeover of an European company, think they might have an answer: ...
... the biodegradable butt. Calling it the ‘green’ butt is a bit of stretch, somewhat like the proverbial enviro-friendly landmine. But nevertheless it is a step in the right direction. Made of food grade starch, such as found in potatoes and rice, it apparently decomposes within two months. Some are concerned however, that such a development might indeed increased cigarette litter, if smokers now believe nature will take responsibility for disposing of their waste. Remember, as we've said many a time, with regard to biodegradable plastics -- a micro-organism rich compost environment is required for their decomposition. Street gutters and roadside verges are not such places.
So another group have, who believe butt pollution is best solved directly with smokers themselves, have developed a funky little, palm sized, portable ashtray. Made of heat resistant ABS plastic, it lasts about 12 months and is reusable for that time. Shaped like butt(ocks) it hopefully encourages the correct disposal of these pesky pollutants, biodegradable, or otherwise. ::New Scientist and ::Butts Out
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How about banning filters altogether?
Sure, it will increase the toxic levels inhaled by smokers, and they will live shorter lives
But I think it's a win-win situation for non-smoking treehuggers.
There has been a long lived solution for the butt problem. Try smoking a pipe! U.S. Surgeon General studies show that pipe smokers live five years longer than the average American!
The only thing is that Chris would have to learn to be civil to smokers a little longer than he wanted to.
Assuming the Surgeon General has reported the pipe smokers live give years longer than the average American - did they say why? I'm kind of doubting its the smoking.
Call me crazy.
And Chris's comments might not have been civil, but I've never seen someone smoke in a public place in a civil manner. Whats civil about smoking, cigarette pipe or otherwise? It is incredibly antisocial behavior in my opinion.
It is also worth mentioning how
tobacco production damages the environment.
* The land that has been destroyed or degraded to grow tobacco has affects on nearby farms. As forests, for example, are cleared to make way for tobacco plantations, then the soil protection it provides is lost and is more likely to be washed away in heavy rains. This can lead to soil degradation and failing yields.
* A lot of wood is also needed to cure tobacco leaves.
* Tobacco uses up more water, and has more pesticides applied to it, further affecting water supplies. These water supplies are further depleted by the tobacco industry recommending the planting of quick growing, but water-thirsty eucalyptus trees.
Smoking also contributes to world hunger as the tobacco industry diverts huge amounts of land from producing food to producing tobacco
From http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Consumption/Tobacco.asp
I would love to see a TreeHugger poll on how often readers smoke.
be sure to look at Chris Jordan's picture of cigarette butts here
http://www.chrisjordan.com/image_detail.php?id=13
I roll my own from loose tobacco. I keep a can of tobacco and natural rolling papers around if I really want a smoke. Obviously I am trying not to smoke, but hey.
I generally smoke American Spirits, but I don't know if their filtered smokes have natural filters. They seem to be the same material that any other filter is made of.
if you don't like em, pray they die, huh?
toocrazy indeed. everything we consume effects the environment. do you own multiple t-shirts? do you know the effect of the cotton industry on the soil, world hunger, forests, etc?
smoking is not anti-social. group smoke breaks are a great way to meet people. even if you're not smoking.
portable ashtrays have been popular in japan for a long time and much nicer than that plastic ass. the metal keychain ones are especially nice.
i think we should focus on behavoiral change instead of changing the manufacture of biodegradable cigarette butts. we have a bad habit as a society of bandaiding problems instead of striking the source of the problem
If the problem is that butt's begin leaching chemicals such as cadmium, lead and arsenic into the marine environment and I assume these come from the tobacco and not the filter, then a biodegradable butt doesn't get rid of that problem.It just makes the asphalt & cement easier to see.The toxic stuff stills melts into the environment. And i'm not sure if collecting them in a plastic box helps much.
Bah, you are all douche bags.
And you, Sir, are a scoundrel.
(Least, I think that how the retort is supposed to go.)
Those butt ashtrays are cute but they are still made of a petroleum product - plastic, and therefore are not biodegradable. They also create toxins in their manufacture. If you must smoke, try using an Altoids type metal tin as a portable ashtray. They last much longer than 12 months and when you finally quit smoking and throw it away, it will rust away into harmless iron oxide after a year or so.