The Littering Behavior of Smokers

Cigarette butts have been carelessly thrown from car windows, dumped on sidewalks, and even carelessly thrown on the ground. This has become a major problem in the United States and all over the world. Burning cigarettes have started many fires, destroyed homes, endangered wildlife, and, in some cases, has caused millions of acres of grass fires. Smokers need to be more aware of the impact that one butt can have on the environment. Having knowledge that there is danger in cigarette butt littering may persuade smokers to properly dispose of their butts. I believe a nationwide ban on cigarette smoking may significantly reduce cigarette butt litter.

The Cigarette Litter Prevention Act was introduced by Senator Joe Lieberman on May 8, 2006. Co-founders of the 'No Butts About It' campaign, Amy, Allie, and David Steinmetz worked with the senator to draft the legislation. The Cigarette Litter Prevention Act would require cigarette packs to state, "Please dispose of all cigarette waste properly. Do not litter" (Lieberman, 2006). Although this may be a good idea, I do not think it will work. There are already warnings (health advisories) on cigarette packs, and those warnings do not appear to be working. People may still litter despite what is stated on the cigarette packs.

A majority of smokers' may believe that the cigarette filters are made up of cotton fibers and therefore they may believe it will decompose quickly. This simply is not the case. According to Kathleen Register, author of Cigarette Butts as Litter-Toxic as Well as Ugly, '95% of the filters in cigarettes are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that slowly degrades. Cellulose acetate fibers are a lot thinner than sewing thread, are packed tightly together to create a filter and they can resemble cotton' (Register, 2000).

A survey was conducted to find some possible explanations as to why smokers' litter their cigarettes, and what it would take for those smokers to stop littering. If we can get the reasons behind why people litter in the first place, we may find a hidden solution that has not yet been discovered; a solution that could potentially stop the excessive littering that we know today. The focus of the problem was not primarily on one specific area, like a particular beach, but it was more of a generalization, like the United States of America.

Recipients' of the survey were chosen at random and the results were tallied, leaving everyone anonymous. Out of the fifty people surveyed, twenty-six people confessed to littering their cigarette butts. A majority of those twenty-six smokers confessed that the primary reason for littering was because they were 'in a hurry' (Personal communication, October, 2006).

If we were to hold a nation wide survey, and only survey those that smoke, maybe some of those smokers would fall in line with the nineteen (65%), smokers who would have to quit smoking in order to stop littering. Littering is an easy way to get rid of something that is no longer wanted. Little thought is put into the potential dangers of littering cigarette butts. If smoking cigarettes were banned in the United States, smoking would be illegal, and therefore, the litter of cigarette butts could cease drastically. Smokers may want to consider kicking the habit before they travel. They could be in for a rude awakening.

Marriott International has extinguished smoking in all of its hotels. In December of 2005 Westin Hotels & Resorts "banned smoking in its 77 properties in North America and the Caribbean" (2006). There are places that are starting to ban public smoking. Take the city of Seattle for instance. Banning cigarette smoking in a public place, however, can create a different problem. According to Jake Ellison, a Seattle Post Intelligencer reporter, "Since Initiative 901 went into effect in December, banning cigars and cigarettes from bars, restaurants, hotels and all other public indoor places in the state, smokers have taken their habit outside -- and are leaving their butts behind"(Ellison, 2006). By banning cigarettes in public places, smokers have seemed to litter more, but if we were to make smoking cigarettes illegal nationwide, they would be committing a crime.

My solution takes cigarette banning one step further, by banning cigarette smoking nationwide, public and private. According to the survey I have conducted, a majority of those that smoke may have to quit in order to stop littering. A nationwide public and private ban may persuade these smokers to kick the habit. By banning cigarette smoking, we may also decrease a lot of smoking related health expenses over time. Smoking related diseases may eventually die down. Another factor in the nationwide ban would require retailers to stop selling cigarettes on their shelves. It may be a burden, however, to enforce this kind of drastic measure, but it could help with the cigarette butt littering that America has today. The smokers who live in America may disapprove such a measure, especially those that have been smoking for some time.

References

Ellison, J. (2006, January 27). The smoking ban: no ifs or ands...but plenty of butts [Electronic version] Seattle Post. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/257262_butts27.html

Jones, L. "Diverse groups support broad federal smoking ban." American Medical News 37.n13 (April 4, 1994): 7(2). Health Reference Center Academic. Thomson Gale. (A15136969) Montcalm Community College. 2 Nov. 2006
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"New York, New York. (2006, September 11). (Briefs)(purchase of Morningside Heights restaurant)." Crain's New York Business 22 6. General Business File ASAP. Thomson Gale. (A151439761) Montcalm Community College. Retrieved October 31, 2006 from http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A151439761&source=gale&srcprod=GBFM&userGroupName=lom_montcalmcc&version=1.0

Register, K. (2002, August). Cigarette butts as litter-toxic as well as ugly. [Electronic version] "Underwater Naturalist"Bulletin of the American Littoral Society, 25. Retrieved October 15, 2006, from http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/ciglitterarticle.htm

Sawicki, R. (2006, May 8). Lieberman lauds legislation to eradicate tobacco trash. Retrieved October 14, 2006 from Senator Lieberman's website: http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=255279"The Health and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce committee continues to hear support from a diverse group backing a nationwide ban on smoking in public non-residential buildings. Support has come from doctors, real estate developers, shopping mall owners and children, and opposition has come from the tobacco industry and some regional restaurant associations. Rep Henry Waxman says his bill is a public health measure raised in reaction to a recent Environmental Protection Agency report, linking second-hand smoke to disease. Supporters argued that a federal ban does not give businesses that do not ban smoking an economic advantage" (Jones, 1994, p7).