Smoking kills… the environment
We are all well aware of the significant health impacts that smoking brings to individuals, but what about the environment?
We have overseen a number of beach cleans across North Devon, and while plastic pellets are topping our charts for their widespread presence, we are also finding an excessive number of cigarette butts.
The life-cycle of a cigarette
In 2018, Imperial College London published a report stating that the production of cigarettes is having a serious detrimental impact on our environment. The report finds that six trillion cigarettes are produced yearly and can impact the environment through climate change, water and land use, and toxicity.
There are many stages to the production of cigarettes, as outlined by the World Health Organisation: (i) tobacco growing and curing; (ii) product manufacturing and distribution; (iii) product consumption; and (iv) post-consumption waste. Each stage has serious environmental impacts. To illustrate, the cultivation of tobacco requires substantial land use, water consumption, pesticides and labour. The curing of tobacco leaves to produce dry tobacco is extremely energy intensive, and the release of carbon emissions from tobacco transportation is significant as it’s on a global scale.
Remember, we aren’t talking about the production of a few hundred cigarettes - six trillion cigarettes are produced annually.
Post-(mis)use
Cigarette butts can end up on our beaches via two possible journeys:
People go to the beach, have a cigarette, then put it out in the sand.
People smoke in their towns, however put them out on the ground. Once it rains, the cigarette butts are transported to our drains, end up in our water system and are washed up on our shores.
The throwaway culture that surrounds smoking is unfortunately evident and requires serious attention from governments, community groups and individuals. To demonstrate, a survey by Keep Britain Tidy revealed that:
52% of smokers who smoke everyday thought putting a cigarette down the drain was acceptable.
39% of smokers, equivalent to 3.6million in the UK, admitted to throwing a cigarette butt down a drain within the past month.
11% of smokers do not consider cigarette butts to be litter.
We are even subject to people disposing of their cigarettes irresponsibly when watching our favourite films and TV shows. Once you are aware of it, you will begin to notice how often you spot a character throwing their cigarette to the ground without a second thought. There is a huge disassociation between throwing away a cigarette and polluting the environment. While research does not demonstrate the exact number of years cigarettes take to decompose, Eradicate Plastic estimate that it takes between 500 and 1000 years for the filter to break down. They explain that because the filter contains plastic, it will not biodegrade in the same way as an organic material. Instead, it will break into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually classing as a microplastic.
The World Health Organisation also claim that up to two-thirds of every smoked cigarette ends up discarded onto the ground. As such, between 340 and 680 million kilograms of waste tobacco product litters the world each year. Later, they suggest this isn’t the only issue: tobacco product waste also contains over 7000 toxic chemicals, including known human carcinogens, which leach into and accumulate in the environment and are toxic to aquatic organisms.
What can we do?
We want people to start thinking about where their cigarette butt goes once they have finished smoking it. Here in North Devon we are repeatedly finding cigarette butts on our beaches, often as people have put them out in the sand. As such, one idea would be to create specific beach smoking zones with well-managed cigarette butt bins. However, this wouldn’t stop the cigarettes that have entered our waterways from inland.
Therefore, the most important action needed is to influence changes in both attitude and behaviour. We want people to start recognising cigarettes as pollutants and to dispose of them responsibly.
TerraCycle
TerraCycle have launched a Cigarette Waste Recycling Program which converts used cigarette butts into items such as plastic pallets and plastic lumber.
To get involved you need to collect your cigarette waste in a bag, ensuring that your waste is safely extinguished. Then, follow this link to find more information about how to get your free shipping label and arrange for a collection.
What more can be done?
Lots! Spread the word. Encourage public places in your communities with designated smoking areas to sign up. TerraCycle are interested in contacting businesses to get involved in the scheme, if you fill out this form and highlight which businesses you think should get involved then TerraCycle will do the work.
In the meantime, please dispose of your cigarettes responsibly by collecting them in an ashtray and then putting them in the bin. We want to challenge the social norm of throwing cigarette butts on the floor and end this unnecessary pollution.