Top Ten Reasons Why Cigarette Butts are so Toxic to the Environment
You cannot help but be turned off by the sight of piles of discarded cigarette butts. If smokers have to smoke, the very least they could do is to dispose of the remains of their habit in a responsible way.
They are the number one item of refuse found on California and many other highways and of course they do not decompose quickly nor completely. Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter with an estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts thrown away every year - worldwide. They accumulate outside buildings, on parking lots and in streets where they can be transported through stormwater drains to streams, rivers and beaches. The ban on smoking in buildings and public transport has obviously made the problem even worse. Not only unsightly but actually toxic to the environment and more.Sharing those top ten reasons
1. Cigarette butts are poisonous when consumed by children or animals - and it only takes one! 2. The toxic chemicals in cigarette butts are a threat to our aquatic ecosystems while the substances that leach out are highly toxic to freshwater micro-organisms as well as marine life. A serious pollutant in the sea, cigarette butts are THE most common item recovered during beach clean ups world wide.8. Thrown away cigarette butts consume tax dollars for cleanup and disposal, money that could be used elsewhere for urgent services.
9. They are a blight on our surroundings and...10. They last forever!
Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.