My Take: Taking Steps to Stop Cigarette Toxins

By Jessica Markham | October 16, 2013

Here at ETR’s Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California (TECC), we provide tobacco education and advocacy materials to educators and health care providers across the country. We also offer research assistance to programs in California.

 

I spend a lot of time reading information about tobacco. I catalog articles, reports and other tobacco-related materials, including infographics. When you spend this much time deep in a topic, you learn a lot. I’m especially astounded by the environmental impact of cigarette toxins. I’ve been interested in environmental issues for a long time, but didn’t realize just how harmful discarded cigarette butts actually are.

Did you know, for example, that cigarette butts are the number one item of litter found on beaches and in waterways worldwide? In the United States, they’re also number one on roadsides and a major problem in parks. That’s not surprising—280 billion cigarettes are purchased in the U.S. each year. But discarded butts do more than just look bad.

They leach toxins into the environment—chemicals and carcinogens such as arsenic, lead, nicotine and cadmium. They’re mostly plastic and don’t biodegrade easily, so the dangers persist for a long time. When waterways become polluted with cigarette butts, fish and other organisms can die. Polluted beaches are also unhealthy for adults, children and pets.

Anyone Can Help

Anyone can help change this situation. I’ve joined the efforts of Save Our Shores, a local grassroots organization that regularly hosts coastal cleanup days in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area. The Ocean Conservancy organizes an annual International Coastal Cleanup each year. And local parks and environmental groups often arrange their own cleanups.

These are great events for everyone. You meet others who care about the environment, and learn more about your local area. You can sign up with a group, join with others the day of the event, or work by yourself if you want some solitude.

Did you know?

ETR has managed the Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California for more than 20 years. We’ve been a key player in California’s comprehensive tobacco control efforts that have saved thousands of lives.

You might even educate a few onlookers who ask what you’re up to. It’s one of the best ways to spread the message: cigarette butts don’t belong on the ground or in our waterways.

I’d like to see more schools get involved in these programs. A lot of high school students need to do volunteer work as a graduation requirement. What a great way to learn about one of the major issues with tobacco!

I’d also like to encourage you to get involved. Find out about clean-up efforts in your region and join in. Invite friends and family. Help smokers understand the importance of discarding butts safely. Almost all smokers consider cigarette butts litter, but 3 in 4 still sometimes discard them on the ground or out a car window.

The American Legacy Foundation has some cool resources on this topic, including an infographic and a fact sheet.

Jessica Markham is a resource specialist at ETR’s Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California (TECC).