Cigarette Butts

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Ice_Weasel

Smokers who believe the world is their ashtray definitely grinds my gears. Throwing a butt out the window so 'your car won't smell'...really? You think your car doesn't smell like smoke already? You are ok destroying your lungs but god forbid you make the ashtray in you car dirty. It really is comical that a smoker can be more concerned about the state of their car ashtray then their own lungs.

Theres a thread for that...

[SeoulFire]

Smokers don't give a crap about their health or the people around them - why would anybody expect them to care about littering?

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by macker

Pickem.....not getting better.

You're still not making an argument as to how littering is going to get worse in the coming years. It's already a problem and has been for decades.

Most of those facts you listed pertain to one's health, not littering.

[Tiger]

see old thread for my story

cool story bro

[Vansmack]

A friend of mine got a $750 ticket for throwing a butt out of his car. I smiled on the inside when he told me.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Vansmack

A friend of mine got a $750 ticket for throwing a butt out of his car. I smiled on the inside when he told me.

He should have checked his mirrors.

[Yasa]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

He should have checked his mirrors.

I smile everytime you post in this thread only because of your user name.

[Pacem]

When I smoked I tossed by butts. My wife hated it, but I honestly didn't really care. I used common sense. If there was an ashtray around i'd use it. If it was really hot and dry and i'm outdoors i'd stash my butts and then throw them away on concrete or a garbage if there was a garbage can. I didn't smoke in my car that often as the wife didn't like it. I would during longer drives, but even then my car didn't have an ashtray. I always meant to get one, but cause I rarely smoked in the vehicle as it was, I just never got around to doing it.

So what if you watch some guy throw his butt on the ground outside your office building. How does it really affect you? Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. I understand the anger associated with throwing butts in dry grass, because thats just stupid. On a sidewalk or the street? Who cares. There are definately things that people do on a daily basis that annoy me, but getting abnormally angry about it does absolutely nothing. Just got to shrug that stuff off.

Option #3 is ridiculous. If your going to put that much effort into something why not do something productive. Instead of taking pictures and hosting a blog, why not spend an hour a week sweeping up garbage. Or volunteer at a soup kitchen or a shelter of some sort. Put your effort into something productive, not something thats essentially a waste of time. When I smoked, I wouldn't really give a #### if someone posted a pic of me cause I threw a butt away. I'd be more inclined to laugh at someone for wasting their time on something so pointless.

[macker]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You're still not making an argument as to how littering is going to get worse in the coming years. It's already a problem and has been for decades.

Most of those facts you listed pertain to one's health, not littering.

The volume of litter is going up not down as are healthcare costs. If that doesn't bother someone and they ignore the health consequences they will pay for it eventually as will society in general. Litter and healthcare are both consequences and will become more and more of an issue in the decades ahead. More and more people are less willing to ignore the problem then they were in decades prior as more and more information has become available.

[blankall]

Do you guys honestly thing that websites with names like quitsmoking and cigarettelitter are going to be at all truthful?

Some actual facts about butts:

The filters are made from Cellulose Acetate. It's not a plastic. It's a product made from wood fibers and acetic acids. Acetic acids are organic compounds, example Vineger. Cellulose is the main structural component of all plants. Cellulose Acetate is 100% biodegradeble.

The majority of carcinogens in cigarettes are also naturally occuring coumpounds produced by the incomplete combustion of plant materials. This includes benzene etc... The amount of these compounds released into the environment by cigarette smokers is miniscule when compared with the amount released by automobiles and other fossil fuel combustion (I mean really miniscule). Some additional, carcinogens may be present in cigarettes as a result of pesticides used during the tobaccco growth, but once again we are talking about miniscule amounts.

Essentially the major carcniongens in cigarettes are carbon structures that are common in any form of ash, smoke, or charcoal. There's nothing magic about cigarettes. You're burning part of a tobacco leaf.

That being said, I do agree the butts are unsightly. I do occasionally socially smoke and try to dispose of my butts when at all possible.

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by Pacem

When I smoked I tossed by butts. My wife hated it, but I honestly didn't really care. I used common sense. If there was an ashtray around i'd use it. If it was really hot and dry and i'm outdoors i'd stash my butts and then throw them away on concrete or a garbage if there was a garbage can. I didn't smoke in my car that often as the wife didn't like it. I would during longer drives, but even then my car didn't have an ashtray. I always meant to get one, but cause I rarely smoked in the vehicle as it was, I just never got around to doing it.

So what if you watch some guy throw his butt on the ground outside your office building. How does it really affect you? Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. I understand the anger associated with throwing butts in dry grass, because thats just stupid. On a sidewalk or the street? Who cares. There are definately things that people do on a daily basis that annoy me, but getting abnormally angry about it does absolutely nothing. Just got to shrug that stuff off.

Option #3 is ridiculous. If your going to put that much effort into something why not do something productive. Instead of taking pictures and hosting a blog, why not spend an hour a week sweeping up garbage. Or volunteer at a soup kitchen or a shelter of some sort. Put your effort into something productive, not something thats essentially a waste of time. When I smoked, I wouldn't really give a #### if someone posted a pic of me cause I threw a butt away. I'd be more inclined to laugh at someone for wasting their time on something so pointless.

Clean up someone elses mess doesn't stop the mess. Making people who make the mess feel like #######s and maybe stop littering solves the problem. Your option is a bandaid.

and I'm not worried about fire etc from butts. I worry about the mess. throwing #### on the sidewalk is stupid. Keep the city cleaner and people will respect it more. There are a lot of research in New York as when they started cleaning up there city crime went down. Now butts aren't really a big deal, but it is still litter and it is just a small group of smoker that think it is not an issue.

[BBQorMILDEW]

I''m craving a cigarette soooo bad right now.. It's been 3 months since i've had one..

[burn_this_city]

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by macker

The volume of litter is going up not down as are healthcare costs. If that doesn't bother someone and they ignore the health consequences they will pay for it eventually as will society in general. Litter and healthcare are both consequences and will become more and more of an issue in the decades ahead. More and more people are less willing to ignore the problem then they were in decades prior as more and more information has become available.

Good grief. Volume of litter? Or volume of cigarette butts? And you are speculating on society "paying for it" in the future when there are millions of people paying for it now.

I'm not so sure cigarette butt littering is going to be a bigger problem as it is now. If anything, it's going to improve, as less people smoke and cigarette butts are likely to become more biodegradable as technology advances in the future to create products that can.

And if more and more people are less likely to ignore the problem, doesn't that mean there will be less littering from a purely logical standpoint?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Yasa

This stuck out to me. Firstly, it says "possible" and secondly it's not bad for you. Plus it has no use in cigarettes. The only possible thing I can think of is it would be used to make it smell better. Weird point.

Not to mention Ambergris is very valuable. Why would you ever use in cigarettes? It's like putting truffles into Cheetos.

[Misterpants]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Not to mention Ambergris is very valuable. Why would you ever use in cigarettes? It's like putting truffles into Cheetos.

All due respect, Cheetos are wayyyyy better than truffles. Especially the Jalapeno ones.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by fredr123

That's a good point. At least with the firepits and bbqs, even the ethnic cooking, they are doing it within the confines of their own property. The smell does travel and I do sometimes get annoyed by those things.

I may be misunderstanding squiggs' situation but it seems that the smokers are smoking away from their own apartments and near his. IF they are doing so to avoid the smoke smell in their own home, then eff them. It's inconsiderate and ignorant.

You are correct. They don't want to smoke in their own house, because they don't want their house to smell like cigarette smoke. I can understand that because, to me, it smells disgusting. What is inconsiderate is they choose to stand three feet away from my window, since it's about the closest place to the gate and you can't smoke on common property. I don't think it's unreasonable that I shouldn't have to close my window everytime they want to have a cigarette. If the smell is so bad they don't want it in their own home, why would anyone else want their second hand smoke in their home. If I were a smoker, and I didn't want my house to smell like smoke, I would take a walk on the sidewalk or go to a park or something. I would definitely not have other homeowners in my complex smell it, whether they smoked or not. Yes they are not breaking any laws that I am aware of, but it is very rude and ignorant.

As for people cooking in their kitchen or on their balcony, that is a little different. If you live in a condo, townhome, duplex, etc. you have made the choice to have neighbours in close proximity to you. You have chosen to reduce your costs and in return you must deal with more noises, smells, etc. than if you had your own plot of land with a detached home. I accept the benefits and costs of this arrangement and it's one reason why I chose to live where I do. The people cooking are doing something that everyone in the building does, even if the flavours aren't for everyone.

Eating food is an essential part of life, while smoking is hazardous to your health. No benefit can come from inhaling cigarette smoke. Although I don't like smelling Indian food, if someone in my complex was cooking it in their kitchen, I'd be fine with it. Their house will smell like it and because I chose to live in a townhome, I knew it was a possibility. What I did not sign up for is someone going beside my window and blowing harmful toxins that waft into my home, solely because they don't want them in their home. I'm hoping to get something done about it at the next AGM.

[macker]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Good grief. Volume of litter? Or volume of cigarette butts? And you are speculating on society "paying for it" in the future when there are millions of people paying for it now.

And if more and more people are less likely to ignore the problem, doesn't that mean there will be less littering from a purely logical standpoint?

Both. In the 2006 International Coastal cleanup cigarettes and cigarette butts constituted 24.7% of the total collected pieces of garbage, over twice as much as any other category.

Laws will change as they have in the States and Australia etc. If people keep doing it and it is too hard to enforce then throw it in bill 16.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by macker

Both. In the 2006 International Coastal cleanup cigarettes and cigarette butts constituted 24.7% of the total collected pieces of garbage, over twice as much as any other category.

Laws will change as they have in the States and Australia etc. If people keep doing it and it is too hard to enforce then throw it in bill 16.

So is 24.7% an increasing rate over previous years? Is it continually increasing? This number doesn't suggest anything about cigarette butt litter becoming worse, per se. Also, where were these coastal cleanups? And I should mention that just because it was the highest rate in the study you quoted, doesn't mean it was the most damaging to the surrounding environment.

I'm not sure there's much of a case to be made that the 'future' is going to suffer considerably if there is no data as to significant cigarette butt littering rates and the damage they cause to the environment. If there is, I'll eat some humble pie. But in my consideration, there is far worse pollution out there. Let's start with car exhaust for one. Smokers and non-smokers are both guilty of this; I think people need to ween themselves off of car usage almost as bad as people who need to ween off cigarettes. It's really a matter of perspective.

[Yasa]

Originally Posted by macker

Both. In the 2006 International Coastal cleanup cigarettes and cigarette butts constituted 24.7% of the total collected pieces of garbage, over twice as much as any other category.

Laws will change as they have in the States and Australia etc. If people keep doing it and it is too hard to enforce then throw it in bill 16.

That 24.7% figure is from coastal garbage, not total garbage.