4 ms·

Former smoker here and guilty of throwing many butts on the ground even though I find any other form of litter unthinkable. When I was much younger I believed

Former smoker here and guilty of throwing many butts on the ground even though I find any other form of litter unthinkable. When I was much younger I believed that cigarette butts biodegraded in a couple years. No big deal, right? I distinctly remember reading this on a sign at a campsite when I was about 18. Turns out, that's an ideal scenario and butts can take up to 10 years to break down naturally, and even then various "degraded" toxins are still present in the environment indefinitely. But that campsite sign was enough to fuel 15 years of cognitive dissonance that allowed me to toss butts on the ground like they were pieces of old lettuce. That, and the mind-bending power of nicotine addiction, which is vastly more powerful than most people realize.

GordonS 8y ago
Thanks for explaining, and I really don't mean to kick you while you're down here, but even if butts did degrade in 2 years, that means they're lying around a long time for birds or animals to eat or choke on them.
- deleted 8y ago
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- mikekchar 8y ago
  I think this is really the issue when addressing these kinds of pollution problems. It's hard for people to prioritise their actions because they don't understand the relative importance of the consequences. When they hear "problem X is mitigated by Y" they think the issue has been solved, even though there are several other much more serious problems that they didn't know about. Quite frequently I have found that well meaning environmentalists complicate matters by focusing attention on issues that are less important. Being motivated to make a positive difference and being educated on the best courses of action is not necessarily correlated unfortunately. When you throw bad actors into that mix, it gets so confusing that even the most determined and educated can get muddled.
Nomentatus 8y ago
Don't expect current butts to break down - the fibers are plastic, now.
AmericanChopper 8y ago
Another former-ish smoker here. I smoked a couple packs over the holidays. Back when I was a daily smoker, there were smoking areas, that had bins for butts. I’ve since discovered that my local government had decided that people shouldn’t be smoking in public, or in outdoor areas of restaurants and bars. The result being people exclusively smoking in irregular places that have no bins, where they just end up flicking their butts on the ground. It reminds me of another recent act of my local government when they banned single use plastic bags. The supermarkets started selling ‘reusable’ plastic bags for about 25c each. Resulting in many people buying a new set of ‘reusable’ plastic bags each time they shop, and just throwing the heavier plastic bags away when they get home.

GordonS 8y ago

Thanks for explaining, and I really don't mean to kick you while you're down here, but even if butts did degrade in 2 years, that means they're lying around a long time for birds or animals to eat or choke on them.

deleted 8y ago
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mikekchar 8y ago
I think this is really the issue when addressing these kinds of pollution problems. It's hard for people to prioritise their actions because they don't understand the relative importance of the consequences. When they hear "problem X is mitigated by Y" they think the issue has been solved, even though there are several other much more serious problems that they didn't know about. Quite frequently I have found that well meaning environmentalists complicate matters by focusing attention on issues that are less important. Being motivated to make a positive difference and being educated on the best courses of action is not necessarily correlated unfortunately. When you throw bad actors into that mix, it gets so confusing that even the most determined and educated can get muddled.

Nomentatus 8y ago

Don't expect current butts to break down - the fibers are plastic, now.

AmericanChopper 8y ago

Another former-ish smoker here. I smoked a couple packs over the holidays. Back when I was a daily smoker, there were smoking areas, that had bins for butts. I’ve since discovered that my local government had decided that people shouldn’t be smoking in public, or in outdoor areas of restaurants and bars. The result being people exclusively smoking in irregular places that have no bins, where they just end up flicking their butts on the ground. It reminds me of another recent act of my local government when they banned single use plastic bags. The supermarkets started selling ‘reusable’ plastic bags for about 25c each. Resulting in many people buying a new set of ‘reusable’ plastic bags each time they shop, and just throwing the heavier plastic bags away when they get home.