# Steophan, throwing cigarette butts on the ground IS littering **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078 "2010-10-23T06:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/41 "2010-10-23T18:02:39Z")
[Cigarette butt data from The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup](http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/cigbutthowmany.htm) So how many cigarette butts are finding their way into streams, rivers and coastal environments? The International Coastal Cleanup, organized annually by The Ocean Conservancy (formerly the Center for Marine Conservation) involves more than 300,000 volunteers picking up debris from beaches, rivers and streams around the world. Volunteers complete Marine Debris Data Cards indicating the quantity and type of litter they pick up. Every year during the International Coastal Cleanup, cigarette butts top the list as the most abundant item collected worldwide. Cigarette butt litter is also one of the top sources of litter in Virginia. Cigarette butts are the most common debris item collected during the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, numbering: 1998 - 1,616,841 1999 - 1,052,373 2000 - 1,369,726 2001 - 1,527,837 (22.31% of all the debris collected during the ICC) 2002 - 1,640,614 (cigarettes and other smoking-related products accounted for 30 percent of the debris) 2003 - 1,426,613 (cigarette filters, cigar tips, and tobacco packaging accounted for 38% of U.S. debris, and 34% of worldwide debris) 2004 - 1,268,177 (cigarette filters, cigar tips, and tobacco packaging accounted for 29.6% of U.S. debris, and 21.2% of worldwide debris) 2005 - 1,638,066 (cigarette filters, cigar tips, and tobacco packaging accounted for 30.4% of worldwide debris) 2006 - 1,892,060 (cigarette filters, cigar tips, and tobacco packaging accounted for 33.4% of worldwide debris) 2007 - 1,971,551 (cigarette filters, cigar tips, and tobacco packaging accounted for 38% of worldwide debris) Cigarette butts have topped the list in all the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanups since they were added to the Data Cards as a separate item in 1990. The number of cigarette butts collected during the cleanup is a small fraction of what is really out in the environment. The Ocean Conservancy has fact sheets about the International Coastal Cleanup available online. Go to: [http://www.coastalcleanup.org/press.cfm](http://www.coastalcleanup.org/press.cfm) to access these PDF files using Adobe Acrobat Reader. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/42 "2010-10-23T18:04:21Z")
[California Coastal Commission - Trash and Marine Debris](http://www.coastal.ca.gov/ccbn/trashdebris.html) Cigarette butts are the most common type of litter found washed up on beaches and are not biodegradable. Place extinguished cigarette butts in the trash ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/43 "2010-10-23T18:06:01Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > And if I’m going to the beach or somewhere else outdoorsy for the day, I bring a ziploc bag to put butts into. The thing about debates like this is that just about every single smoker who participates describes their own behavior as completely responsible. And yet, assuming they’re telling the truth, the evidence on the ground of the nation’s cities and highways and beaches and parks suggests that these responsible smokers constitute a pretty small minority of all smokers. If you came to San Diego, by the way, that ziploc bag would do you no good, because smoking is prohibited on the beaches here. And the reason for the ban was not the issue of secondhand smoke; it was the fact that the beaches were getting overrun by discarded cigarette butts. People apparently felt that the sand was a perfect medium for stubbing out their cigarettes: its nonflammable, and it makes the butt easy to hide. At least until the next family comes along and digs into the sand, only to bring up a handful of the disgusting little tubes. > [@DianaG](#): > > But I can’t get too worked up at someone who goes outside for a cigarette during the workday and stomps it out on the ground for lack of anywhere else to put it. There are times when i’m in public, and i finish a can of soda or a packet of chips or something similar, and there are no garbage bins in sight. You know what i do? I hang onto my trash until i find a place to get rid of it properly. I’m curious as to why this basic piece of social etiquette should be waived for smokers. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/44 "2010-10-23T18:25:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Carrying cigarette butts stinks to high heaven. > > The rich irony of that statement is almost too much to bear. Smokers stink. Their clothing stinks. Official smoking areas stink. _Un_official smoking areas stink. bus stops where the majority of smokers throw their butts straight down before they hop on the bus stink. The insides of those buses stink. > No sympathy at all from me for the slight side effect from doing 1/100th of your part to reduce this collective stench. Too late to the party, but this is exactly what I was thinking as I started reading this thread. Smokers literally stink no matter what they do. Altoids and Febreeze do not alleviate the problem. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/45 "2010-10-23T18:31:27Z")
I participate in local coastal clean ups. The amount of butts collected is disgusting. It’s a huge litter problem. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Hey, you know what else is biodegradable? Hitler! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/46 "2010-10-23T18:34:06Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Apple cores and banana peels will decompose, too, but until they do, they’re still litter. True enough, but come on. We’re talking about a small ball of plant fiber which , assuming the wind and rain are doing their job and the smoker is disposing of the same way I am, will immediately turn into a couple dozen quasi-invisible strands of plant matter. A dead leaf is more aesthetically displeasing than that. Because you actually can see it, see ? ETA : I’m talking about flicking the cherry here. The filter, paper, butt etc… are gross and should be disposed off in a proper tray or bin. A tiny clump of loose tobacco strands I think gets a pass, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/47 "2010-10-23T18:37:19Z")
Biodegradable is a term thrown about to justify polluting the environment. Newspaper is biodegradable, as are corn cobs. Go dig up a trash dump from 50 years ago: guess what you’re going to find?\* Eventually, these things will return to the dirt. Cigarette butts won’t, any more than that plastic water bottle will. \*No, not Jimmy Hoffa. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/48 "2010-10-23T21:00:56Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > ETA : I’m talking about flicking the cherry here. That’s nice. May I ask why? Since, you know, that’s not what the thread is about AT ALL? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/49 "2010-10-23T21:15:58Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > That’s nice. May I ask why? Since, you know, that’s not what the thread is about AT ALL? It’s what the poster I replied to was replying about. Do pay attention, dear. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/50 "2010-10-23T21:40:35Z")
I don’t think the cherry and the tobacco end are the same thing. I think of the cherry as merely the small, lit ball of tobacco. Not the whole remains of the tobacco end of a cigarette butt. Do pay attention, “dear” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/51 "2010-10-23T21:45:07Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > There’s no perfect solution here. Only the choice between dropping the occasional cigarette butt on the sidewalk (which, again, I certainly won’t do if there’s an ashtray or trash bin nearby) or stinking up my office. No. If you cannot smoke somewhere without littering, then your only choice is to not smoke at all there. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/52 "2010-10-23T21:46:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Did you actually use the term “biodegradable”? > _Really?_ > [@mhendo](#): > > I’m not sure if the while “cotton” thing is a holdover myth, or if it’s something that smokers tell themselves so they can feel better about being selfish, but… > > From [here](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/us/29cigarettes.html):And here’s a whole [article](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2697937/) on the issue of cigarette butts and the issue of biodegradability, litter, and health from the _International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health_, hosted on the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health website. > > It’s worth noting, too, that the ostensible purpose of the filter is to catch some of the poisons that come from the tobacco. So, even if they were biodegradable, you’d still be throwing away a biodegradable product that is filled with the various toxins that come from the cigarette. Nice. > [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Cellulose acetate. Polyester fibers. Look it up before you say something dumb. Okay so I was wrong. It’ll happen again. Thanks for clearing that up. FTR, yeah, I smoke, but _all_ my butts go into ashtrays. I wish I’d never picked up the habit while I was in the military, but…yeah. I really want to quit. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/53 "2010-10-23T22:12:55Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Hottie to swine? That’s a bit melodramatic, don’t you think? I mean, the butts _are_ littering but they are essentially cotton wrapped in paper. Biodegradable. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Hey, you know what else is biodegradable? Geese. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/54 "2010-10-23T22:27:21Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I don’t think the cherry and the tobacco end are the same thing. I think of the cherry as merely the small, lit ball of tobacco. Not the whole remains of the tobacco end of a cigarette butt. Do pay attention, “dear” :rolleyes: How much tobacco’s left in your cigarettes when they’re done smoking ? And do those “whole” few errand strands of tobacco make a HUUUUUGE difference re: what I was saying when they’re scattered to the 4 winds ? That’s what “field stripping” cigarettes mean. You flick the cherry, crush what’s left of the tobacco between your fingers, then dump the (now 100% safe and non flammable) butt somewhere. Unless you were merely nitpicking terms for the hell of it. In which case : go pet a hungry shark. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/55 "2010-10-23T22:56:48Z")
I don’t smoke but I’ve seen cigarette butts with any amount of tobacco left on them. My point is mainly, why are you making such a big deal about “flicking the cherry” off a cigarette when that isn’t the focus of the thread? It seems like misdirection. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/56 "2010-10-23T22:57:57Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I could give a shit about your sympathy, and if I sat next to YOU at work, I’d bring my cigarette butts back in with me and enjoy your misery, if you’re gonna bitch regardless. > > It’s funny as hell, really. They make us smoke outside, which I’m fine with. But then they take away the smoking areas (with their attendant ashtrays) and bitch about the litter. And I guarantee you that if taking one’s stubbed out cigarette butts inside became common, the bitching would escalate to howling, and do you know what, they’d be right, because stubbed out butts are smell way worse than smoke. I am a former smoker. I carried a container to put my butts in. as long ad the container had a airtight lid I noticed no smell (through frankly when I was a smoker I missed a lot of smells). Now as a non smoker who knows lots of smokers - smokers stink, their homes stink, their cars stink and the designated smoking area stinks from quite a distance (open air ashtrays). However those who carry their own airtight butt receptacles don’t stink any more than any other smoker. Open ashtrays stink to high heaven. Open airtight butt containers do too. Closed ones not so much. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/57 "2010-10-23T23:50:05Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > No. If you cannot smoke somewhere without littering, then your only choice is to not smoke at all there. Bite me. I’m absolutely certain that as you go about your day, you leave some unpleasant trace of your existence. But that’s okay, because you’re not a demon smoker. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/58 "2010-10-23T23:54:46Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Bite me. I’m absolutely certain that as you go about your day, you leave some unpleasant trace of your existence. But that’s okay, because you’re not a demon smoker. :rolleyes: There’s a world of difference between leaving a shedding hair behind or whatever and purposefully dropping litter (of any type). Why do smokers get a pass that almost every other litterer wouldn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Oldeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oldeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldeb)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/59 "2010-10-23T23:55:03Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Bite me. I’m absolutely certain that as you go about your day, you leave some unpleasant trace of your existence. But that’s okay, because you’re not a demon smoker. :rolleyes: I’m willing to bet I can go a whole day without littering. Or a week. Or however long you want. What you said was no different then if you said you’d throw away that styrofoam cup if there was a trash can nearby, but if not, eh, fuck it. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/60 "2010-10-23T23:55:26Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I don’t smoke but I’ve seen cigarette butts with any amount of tobacco left on them. My point is mainly, why are you making such a big deal about “flicking the cherry” off a cigarette when that isn’t the focus of the thread? It seems like misdirection. The point is figuring out what y’all think about that. It’s pretty dang obvious to anyone with half a clump of braincells huddling together that flinging butts wherever is gross, pollutes, and absolutely constitutes littering. That much is established. We _could_ generate 20 pages of straight-up, no holds barred circlejerk butt-flinger bashing, I suppose, but…yeah. Which wouldn’t adress more, err, fringe (?) considerations, such as flinging tobacco wherever. Is that littering, gross and polluting ? Shall I keep on doing so figuring it’s no big ? Does anybody even care ? \*\*Lynn \*\*seemed to imply she does. Hence the attempt to hash it over with her. I’m not making a big deal about it, I didn’t even introduce the notion. And I don’t get why you’re snapping at me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078.md?page=4)