Please Get Your Butts Off the Street (and the Beach

I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s rights. Please smoke away if you enjoy it and know the risks.  I wholeheartedly support your choice. My issue is littering. I flinch when I see someone carelessly throw a lit cigarette out a car window. Or empty an entire ashtray onto the curb. Or extinguish a cigar on the sand and leave it there. To magically disappear. Not.

It’s a myth the butts are biodegradable. In reality, it takes years for filters to decompose; yet it seems to be the last vestige of acceptable littering.  According to Keep America Beautiful, tobacco products constitute up to 38% of all litter. That’s pretty staggering. But, I know it’s fixable if people know the truth.

Here’s a quick glance of what I saw on a local road. Look at all those filters.

I remember the anti-littering ad campaigns of the 70’s that made everyone recoil at the thought of littering. It’s about time we collectively cringe again.