Seriously, smokers — who’s going to pick that up?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/07/2017 (3349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I was waiting for a bus in front of the Bay this week when a 30-something woman walked up and stood nearby.

She was smoking. As her bus came close, she dropped her cigarette on the sidewalk and ground it out with her shoe.

“Who’s going to pick that up?” I asked, loud enough for her to hear.

She pointedly ignored me, staring in the direction of her bus.

“No, really. Who is going to pick that up?” I asked again.

I wasn’t really expecting a response. I just wanted to make my point. I wanted her to know that someone saw her drop the butt — and that it wasn’t right.

It’s also a huge problem. It’s not just one or two smokers who drop their cigarette butts on the ground. According to Zero Waste Canada, cigarette butts are one of the most commonly discarded waste products in the world. In Canada, it is estimated that about 8,000 tonnes of butts are dropped each year. In 2015, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup picked up 409,417 cigarette butts from beaches, lakefronts and riverbanks.

Self-reports by smokers indicate that between one-third to two-thirds toss their cigarette butts on the ground. This certainly seems to be the case here in Winnipeg. During a walk along three blocks in downtown Winnipeg, I counted more than 380 butts on the sidewalk, along the curb and near doorways of various buildings. There were 32 outside the door of the building where I work — despite the fact there is a disposal for cigarette butts nearby.

But that’s not all. Cigarettes aren’t just bad for your health; they harm the environment. Cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate and a non-biodegradable plastic, which can take up to 25 years to decompose.

When immersed in water, the butts leach out a chemical, toxic soup that pollutes our waterways.

They can also be ingested by animals, especially birds and fish, causing them harm. And it goes without saying they pose a serious fire risk for forests and other wooded environments.

In other words, it’s a real problem.

Obviously, the best way to end cigarette butt pollution is for everyone to stop smoking. Since that isn’t going to happen, education of smokers — and making sure there are lots of ashtrays within easy reach — might be the best solutions.

A day later, on my way home, another smoker was waiting near me by the bus stop. As the bus approached, he stubbed out the butt on a nearby light post, then flicked it away.

“Hey,” I said. “Who is going to pick that up?”

jdl562000@yahoo.com