Author: Donna Ardizzoni

Clean Gloucester and The One Hour at a Time Gang along with Gloucester’s Clean Commission have put together an article regarding the problem with cigarette butt littering.

Cigarette Butts Are Litter Too!

Indoor smoking bans were created to protect the public from the dangers of secondhand smoke, which is great, but when smokers were moved outdoors, the butts went with them. Now the streets, sidewalks and beaches of Cape Ann have become an ashtray, but we can change that.

Wait, aren’t cigarettes biodegradable? Tobacco and cotton fiber? If that’s what you thought, you’re not alone. Cigarettes contain approximately 600 ingredients and more than 60 are known to cause cancer. Where do those chemicals go (besides in your body)? If you throw your butt on the ground they go into the environment. The filter alone is made of cellulose acetate that not only persists in the environment, it collects the harmful chemical additives that help make cigarettes addictive. Add that to water and you’ve got a chemical soup.

But they’re so small, how much harm can they do? Sadly cigarette butts are the most common marine debris found at shoreline clean-ups (we can personally attest to that). And that’s just the beach. What about the butts that end up in our lakes, streams and wetlands?

What can you do if you’re not ready to quit?

Carry a portable or pocket ashtray outside

• Dispose of butts in a receptacle
• Don’t throw butts out the window – use a car ashtray
• Don’t throw butts into the ocean, use a butt bucket on your boat
• If you own a business, insist that your employees use a receptacle, piles  of  butts outside your entrance can deter business

Litterers are more likely to litter when they see trash–it creates a sense that no one cares. Let’s show visitors that we care about our beautiful home.

– Gloucester Clean City Commission