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[Free Report] The Forgotten Plastic Pollution: Cigarette Butts - and They Could be Killing our Plants |
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by Rosa Domingos | 22-07-2019 17:21
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It’s amazing how quickly people have ditched plastic straws thanks to campaigns to discourage us from using single-use plastic. Yet rarely do we hear about a much more common source of plastic pollution... Being cigarettes butts... Cigarette butts or filters are the most littered item on the planet. An estimated 5.6 trillion cigarettes are smoked each year, out of which two thirds are improperly disposed of (Green, 2019). That’s [4.5 trillion butts] each year. Since the 1980s, cigarette butts have accounted for 30% to 40% of all litter found in coastal and urban litter clean-ups. They are a common eyesore on our streets, our parks, our beaches and in our waterways. Whats sad about this is that many smokers admit to littering cigarette butts, possibly because they believe them to be biodegradable and somehow do not consider them as litter. But as well as taking much longer to break down than most people think, discarded cigarette butts may significantly damage surrounding plant growth, as our new research suggests (Green, 2019). What are cigarette butts made out of? Cigarette butts are composed of thousands of cellulose acetate fibres and, although biodegradable, take years to disappear from the environment. Cellulose acetate fibres - like other microplastics - are also a common contaminant found throughout the world’s ecosystems, even accumulating at the bottom of the deep sea. Used filters also contain thousands of chemicals that can kill plants, insects, rodents, fungus and other lifeforms, and some of which are known carcinogens. There are many reports of young children and pet dogs accidentally swallowing cigarette butts, and they’ve even been found in wild animals such as seabirds and turtles. Ingestion can cause vomiting and, in some cases, convulsions. The leachates from cigarette butts can be toxic to aquatic organisms such as bacteria, crustaceans, worms and fish. Do your bit, it will go a long way. The moral of this article is that we need to look at a plastic pollution in an angle that affects us in our everyday life. Cigarette buds are not given the full attention it requires in order to counter act plastic pollution. When you walk down a walkway, or in a park, and notice cigarette butts on the ground, remember that it is also plastic. Do your bid and dispose of it properly in a recycle-bin or conventional bin. You will be doing Mother Earth a huge favour! Source: [Dannielle Green] 19 July, 2019 - https://theconversation.com/amp/cigarette-butts-are-the-forgotten-plastic-pollution-and-they-could-be-killing-our-plants-119958 |
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20 Comments
Greetings Rosa
I hope you are doing well
Thank you so much for this report
Keep writing
Green cheers
Regards
Sus
Posted 15-03-2020 16:41
Greetings Rosa
I hope you are doing well
Thank you so much for this report
Keep writing
Green cheers
Regards
Sus
Posted 15-03-2020 16:41
Hey there Louis Mentor!
Thank you for reading and commenting on my report. What you said is true, smoking in general brings forth a negative effect to our environment and human health. And it is something worth educating as many people as possible.
Warm regards,
Rosa
Posted 29-07-2019 19:23
Hey there Israel!
I completely concur with you. I think killing two birds with one stone in this scenario is a much better way to combat this problem. Moving towards reducing smoking habits in generals looks at the safety of one's health and that of the planet.
Thank you so much for your input, and thank you once more for reading my report!
Warm regards,
Ms. Rosa Tiimuma Domingos
Posted 29-07-2019 19:16
Hey Mentor Wonhee!
Thank you for reading and commenting on my report! Truly, we have had an oversight on this pollutant and we need to place importance on it just like we do other single-use plastics.
Warm regards,
Rosa
Posted 29-07-2019 19:13
Hey Nikolay!
Thank you so much for reading and commenting on my work. Indeed, this type of pollutant needs to get some light shed on it so that we may know that there are other pollutants hidden in plain sight needing attention.
Warm regards,
Rosa
Posted 29-07-2019 19:09
Hi Rosa,
Thank you for your report and I can see you have put a lot of efforts into your report. I personally really enjoyed reading your report. I do not really like cigarettes because it is not only harmful to human health but also destroy our mother earth and I think it was great that you pointed out. Please keep up with the good work! :)
Louis Mentor
Posted 29-07-2019 00:15
First, let me confess that the article is very educating as I personally don't have a clue of the material cigarette filters are made of.
The need to act against plastic pollution as a result of improper disposal of cigarettes filters by voluntarily picking them up is good, but, it will be of a greater effect if the habit of smoking is grossly reduced.
It is evident and have been medically confirmed that smokers are liable to die young. A move against smoking will subsequently reduce cigarette filters littering.
Thanks Rosa.
Posted 26-07-2019 15:11
Hello Rosa
Thank you for this informative report! I didn't realize that cigarette butts are composed of cellulose acetate fibers that take years to biodegrade. I totally agree with you on that we often downplay the impacts of cigarette butts or other plastic products on the environment so they don't get the full attention. Keep up the good work!
Wonhee Mentor
Posted 24-07-2019 22:58
Hello! Rosa, thank you for the current and shining novelty message! You've noticed a detail that stays out of sight. Indeed, the harm from cigarette butts is not less than from plastic straws or disposable tableware.
Posted 24-07-2019 04:09
Hey Bal!
Thank you so much for reading on my report! I am glad you have learned new items to this regard! Yes, I concur that we need to know more on this issue and only then can we be fully aware of the detrimental effects of it .
Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
With gratitude,
Ms. Rosa Tiimuma Domingos
Posted 23-07-2019 14:58
Hey Sainath!
Thank you for reading and commenting on my report! I am glad you have learned something to this regard!
With gratitude,
Ms. Rosa Tiimuma Domingos
Posted 23-07-2019 14:47
Hey Kushal!
Thank you for reading/commenting on my report! Yes, society has forgotten or to a large extent might not even know that cigarette butts are of plastic origin. We need to broaden the list of plastic item and inform as many people about this as we can.
Thank you once more for reading my report!
Warm regards,
Ms. Rosa Tiimuma Domingos
Posted 23-07-2019 14:46
HI Rosa,
I am happy to see you again. You have spoken a new, interesting and very important topic that we use to neglect in our daily life. I enjoyed with your valuable report and its a topic lf awareness in my life. Thanks for writing on cigarette butts, I didnt know that this is also a bad part of cigarette.
Hope for your further informations.
Posted 23-07-2019 02:17
Hi,
A great report regarding the hazards of cigar butts to environment as well as to humans
Posted 23-07-2019 00:24
Hello Rosa
I do hope that you are fine and doing great with your works.
Thank you for your report about he Forgotten Plastic Pollution: Cigarette Butts. This is really an insightful report. People generally don't consider cigarette butt as an important aspect for plastic pollution but in reality they really play an important role and require major concentration to beat plastic pollution
Green Cheers from Nepal :)
Keep writing great reports.
We are eager to read more reports from you.
Regards,
Kushal Naharki
Posted 22-07-2019 21:52
Hey Yves!
Yes, they certainly do. Thank you for reading and commenting! I appreciate it!
Posted 22-07-2019 21:43
Hey Rafa!
Thank you for reading. It is unfortunate that cigarettes are linked to not just air pollution, but plastic pollution as well.
I appreciate your comment!
Posted 22-07-2019 21:43
I didn't know that cigarette have a plastic part too..thanks, nice report
Posted 22-07-2019 21:20
I do agree on the fact that how cigarettes are tremendously bad for the environment as well as human health. Great report
Posted 22-07-2019 18:33