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The stubs of cigarettes
...what about them?

Do you know what is the most discarded waste globally?

It's cigarette butts.

For beach cleanup activities in the past 35 years, cigarette butts have consistently ranked at the top of the list regarding the quantity of garbage. According to a 2022 report by the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 4.5 trillion cigarette butts and tobacco products, such as cigarette packs, are littered worldwide, occupying pedestrian paths, parks, soil, beaches, oceans, and more.

A single cigarette butt contains over 7,000 toxic chemicals and carcinogens and can pollute 100 liters of water.

The health claims of cigarette filters are deceptive, and they are also bad news for the environment. Each filter contains 12,000 to 15,000 microplastic fibers, which break down into microplastic particles, making cigarette butts the second-largest source of global pollution.

If someone ever says,
"It is just cigarette butts?" When it comes to litter, please tell them that the harm caused by cigarette butts is not insignificant.

As the World Health Organization says,
"Throughout the entire lifecycle of tobacco, it pollutes the earth and damages the health of everyone."

Can you find cigarette butts everywhere?

Sometimes they hide in the litter; sometimes, they float in waterways; sometimes, they squeeze into tree holes; and sometimes, they sunbathe on the beach. With 4.5 trillion of these elusive and tricky fellows worldwide, how many times do we have to bend over to pick them up one by one?

The World Health Organization estimated the annual cost of cleaning up tobacco-related waste for each country in 2021: approximately US$2.6 billion for China, US$766 million for India, and over US$200 million for Germany and Brazil. All of these costs come from taxpayers' pockets.

Two-thirds of the leftover cigarette butts worldwide are thrown on the ground.

This is also a statistic from the WHO.

Why is the proportion of smokers who litter so high? What are they really thinking?

Scholars have different opinions on this matter.

THOUGHT 1

"Where are the ashtrays around here?"

Research has shown that when public ashtrays are more than 31 feet away, many smokers litter their cigarette butts. Increasing the availability of convenient disposal facilities can help address this issue. This would mean placing an ashtray every two parking spaces, creating a visually striking line of bins.

However, some scholars have found that even in proximity to public ashtrays, cigarette butts are still often littered, suggesting that the distance factor may not be the sole reference point and could even be used as an excuse by some individuals. Does it mean that littering is justified when there are no ashtrays available?

THOUGHT 2

"Cigarette butts are hardly worth mentioning."

In the 1980s, no research papers specifically focused on cigarette butt litter, indicating that it was generally not perceived as a problem then. It was even considered a "part of the smoking ritual" without moral constraints.

Nowadays, it is widely recognized that littering is unacceptable. However, research has found that some smokers still find excuses to justify their actions, such as thinking that "one cigarette butt doesn't matter" or believing "it's too small to be noticed or caught."

THOUGHT 3

"Cigarette butts are just made of plant matter or paper, so they will naturally decompose, right?"

This is a misconception! Most cigarette butts have filters, which are often made of plastic that does not readily biodegrade. We will discuss this further later on.

The psychological battle of littering cigarette butts.

Exploring this topic reveals a tangled web of social psychology, waste management (such as the uncleanliness of public ashtrays), law enforcement efforts, and more. It can further investigate why young people under 30 litter cigarette butts more frequently. Why do people prefer to stuff cigarette butts into tree holes or discard them in drains? Why is harsh punishment ineffective in solving the problem?

Given these complexities, some places have decided to employ psychological warfare tactics.

Tactic A

Small changes, big improvements.

The New South Wales government in Australia has found that small changes can guide smokers towards proper behaviour, increasing the appropriate cigarette butt disposal rate from 38% to as high as 58% or even 76%.

Creating smoking areas with comfortable seating and designated disposal facilities reduces the negative feeling of exclusion among smokers.
Clear signage directs smokers to designated smoking areas.
Acknowledging and praising proper cigarette butt disposal as a positive behaviour.
Enforcing regulations seriously.

Tactic B

Calling for empathy!

Here's a street experiment in Taiwan: A girl holding a fish tank approaches smokers and says, "Please throw your cigarette butts into the fish tank."Nobody is willing to throw cigarette butts into the fish tank, fearing it would harm the fish's home. But what about the drains? The rivers? The beaches? Ultimately, they all flow into the ocean, damaging the "big fish tank" in nature.

Reference article:Would you throw cigarette butts into a fish tank?

In foreign countries, some places paint vivid warnings near storm drains: "No Dumping, drains to ocean." It serves the same purpose, reminding us not to turn the ocean into a cigarette butt graveyard.

Tactic C

Cigarette butt "ballot boxes"

Cigarette butt collection boxes transform into "ballot boxes," allowing smokers to express their opinions freely. It offers various approaches, from public policies to recreational activities. For example, before the World Cup, asking, "Who is the best football player in the world: Ronaldo or Messi?" It becomes an engaging and participatory experience. Implementing this "alternative voting" in the UK and Japan has significantly reduced the incidence of littered cigarette butts by 46% and 90%, respectively.

Photo shource: Luke Ching

Tactic D

Crow Cleaners

In Sweden, a company has researched and trained crows to clean cigarette butts from the streets, reducing the government's expenses on street cleaning.

Researchers claim that crows are gifted students of the bird world and can become excellent cleaners. Local officials responsible for waste management said: "We can teach crows to pick up cigarette butts, but we can't teach our own kind not to litter them. That's interesting, though."

Tactic E

Not all smokers are litterbugs.

Here's a convenient method to consider: self-extinguishing cigarette packs.

Photo shource: SHEEPPOO Artist

Tactic F

Responding to WHO's Call

Eliminate tobacco product waste to protect the ecosystem.
Educate smokers about the environmental harm caused by tobacco and encourage smoking cessation.
Ban the use of disposable plastic products like cigarette filters.
Increase public awareness of the tobacco industry's greenwashing strategies.
Support governments in levying additional taxes on the tobacco industry.

Wait a minute! Don't just focus on calling for smokers' civic consciousness; don't forget to hold a more critical group accountable:

The Tobacco Industry.

The Small Filter
Big Deception

By hiding a small filter at the end of cigarettes, tobacco companies claim it reduces health risks. However, the WHO and anti-smoking groups call it the century's deception. What's the story behind it?

You might not be aware, but the tobacco industry has a history of spreading lies, making them habitual offenders.

"Provides immediate relief for asthma, coughing bronchitis, hay fever, influenza, and breathlessness."

These were tobacco advertisements from 1881 and 1949; they were outrageous. You can explore the Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA) to uncover more tall tales.

Driven by the mass production of the industrial revolution, tobacco marketing nearly conquered the world. It wasn't until after World War II that the tide began to turn with the introduction of medical studies exposing the harms of tobacco.

In 1964, the U.S. government confronted the tobacco industry by releasing the first report on smoking and health, highlighting the link between smoking and lung cancer, throat cancer, and chronic bronchitis. It quickly became the most prominent news of the year.

However, the tobacco industry was not about to give in easily. In addition to lobbying in politics, medicine, and the media, they introduced a cunning invention: the filter, claiming to filter out toxic substances and make smoking safer. It quickly gained popularity. In 1951, only about 1% of cigarettes on the market had filters, but by 1958, that number had risen to nearly half, and today it has become mainstream.

Here are some advertisements from 1955 and 1980 promoting filters: "Smoke away smoking fears with filtered cigarettes" and "You don't have to cut down smoking; Duke's filters do it for you."

The WHO says: "There is no confirmed health benefit from cigarette filters." The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health states: "These are just promotional gimmicks and marketing tactics by the tobacco industry. Filters and added flavors do not reduce health risks. In fact, they may cause smokers to inhale deeper and intake more harmful substances."

The design that claims harm reduction ends up causing more harm, no wonder some consider filters a century-long deception.

Today, laws exist worldwide to prohibit false advertising and protect consumer rights. Perhaps we should all say to the tobacco industry, "Thanks for nothing."

The damage caused by cigarette butts extends beyond our respiratory system...

This globally abundant form of human-generated waste is also harming the health of our planet.

With its simulated cork paper wrapping around the filter, conventional cigarette design gives the illusion of paper fibers or cotton, leading people to believe that they can naturally degrade.

Not so.

Scholars specializing in the environmental impact of tobacco point out that cigarette filters contain 12,000 to 15,000 microplastic fibers. These fibers do not degrade but instead break down into microplastic particles, carrying the toxicity of tobacco into the environment. This includes chemicals produced from smoking and unburned residues.

Studies have found that water soaked with cigarette butts can kill half of the fish in a fish tank. Other research suggests that cigarette butts deposited in the soil can reduce the success rate of plant germination and affect growth. As human beings at the top of the food chain, we cannot remain indifferent to these issues.

The tobacco industry,
please stop!

In 2020, the tobacco industry in the UK met with environmental officials. The industry representatives attempted to absolve themselves of responsibility by pointing out that although cigarette butts accounted for 66% of the total national waste, they only occupied 0.2% in volume. In response, Rebecca Pow, the Minister for the Environment, immediately countered, "It doesn't matter how big or small the amount is – it is still toxic."

The tobacco industry has produced toxins that are difficult to manage and cannot completely decompose. They are the primary culprits behind the harm to health and the environment, and for years they have evaded responsibility by blaming the smokers and shifting the focus by promoting initiatives like beach cleanups and installing ashtrays as a way to maintain their business model of high production, high consumption, and high disposal.

The US-based organization UNDO, which focuses on tobacco and health, considers, "The tobacco industry wants us to believe that cigarette butts and vapes found on the ground are simply a litter problem. They want us to waste our time installing ashcans in our cities and having beach cleanups. This ruthless industry uses slick PR campaigns to blame people who smoke for its tobacco pollution, dodge accountability, avoid regulations, and spread outright lies”.

In 2017, the WHO published a report on the environmental impact of the tobacco industry, stating that tobacco manufacturers should be held responsible for the pollution caused by their production processes. This includes banning the sale of disposable filter cigarettes, labeling tobacco product waste as hazardous, and imposing additional waste fees to clean up the harm and fund campaigns to eliminate tobacco waste.

The problem is that tobacco companies have significant financial power and strong lobbying influence, while government regulations often take one step forward and two steps back.

A recent example occurred in 2018 when the European Union (EU) planned to phase out and enforce the recycling of ten disposable plastics to establish a model for preventing ocean plastic pollution. The media focused on plastic straws, cotton buds, beverage bottles, and disposable cutlery but paid little attention to cigarette butts, which were also prominent on the list. The proposal initially aimed to reduce plastic fibers in filters by 50% by 2025 and 80% by 2030, addressing the waste at its source. However, this ambitious plan has yet to materialize. Ultimately, EU member states only passed a superficial measure requiring tobacco companies to include a plastic marking on cigarette filters by January 5, 2023, and bear the costs of cleaning, collecting, and transporting them.

The struggle against cigarette butts is still ongoing.