The Cigarette Butt Ecological Nightmare Problem - What it is, and what to do and not to do about it.

I wasnt going to do this, but your "protest" by littering has earned it for any smokers who may end up with an infringement...

If anyone is in West Aus reading this thread wishes to report someone unlawfully discarding any rubbish, please here is the KABC web form:
www.kabc.wa.gov.au...
Other states can find links to their KABC sites from here:
kab.org.au...

For people in the US I would check your local authorities, a lot of places have statutory authorities to report unlawfully discarded refuse.

a reply to: RifRAAF

Just to show you how rubbish your posted paper really is:

In a recent five-year period (01/07/97- 30/06/02), across Australia, Australasian Fire Authorities Council reports that 394,468 fires were or may have been associated with cigarettes and smokers’ materials. Of these, 22,870 fires were directly associated with cigarettes and smokers’ materials. A further 3,455 fires were associated with discarded materials, some of which would be cigarettes and smokers’ materials. A further 371,598 fires were caused by undetermined or other igniti on source/factors, many of which Australasian Fire Authorities Council suggest could have been associated with cigarettes and smokers’.

So according to this quote - if it wasn't for smokers - there would hardly be any fires at all - neither bush fires or house fires. But their own sources quote that only 4 % of bush fires can be possibly attributed to cigarette butts.

What a load of rubbish!

Yes - do tell the authorities on me! That is what whiners do - they turn in their neighbours and the government just loves it!

Of course - you don't mind if I tell on non-smokers who litter but then again - whats the use! government only takes action against smokers! Other litter doesn't matter at all! When you are trying to run a propaganda campaign, you have to focus your resources on your target.

Far more effective than taking an action - like I don't know but I might suggest - PROVIDING ASHTRAYS IN A CAR!

Tired of Control Freaks

a reply to: VashKonnor

See that brown stuff - its NOT road tar. Its the by-products of combustion. See how its trapped in the filter? That means its NOT in my lungs.

See how my lungs (and yours) work. Every second of every day, the lungs and indeed the entire respiratory system produces mucus. See how this mucus is sticky and is intended to trap all foreign material and when the mucus is expelled, so is the foreign material.

See how they can use a smoker's lung for transplant because its all nice and pink and healthy. matter of fact, over half of all lung transplants are performed using smoker's lungs

Despite this, new research shows that those people given the lungs of smokers were just as likely to be alive up to three years after transplantation as those who had organs from non-smokers. In some cases, they had improved survival rates.

See how anti-smokers like to doctor up a pig's lung with shoe polish to make people believe that the yellow substance gets trapped in the lung and that smoker's have black lungs. The skillful ones can even paint in tumors.

articles.courant.com...

Johnston said the pigs' lungs, which are anatomically similar to those of humans, had been made to look like a smoker's lungs with injected carbon particles. Carbon is the chemical in tobacco products that stains smokers' lungs.

You can also buy these "smoker's lungs" for $100 a set for your very own anti-smoking lie demonstration

www.healthedco.com...

Tired of Control Freaks

a reply to: JohnPhoenix

www.nature.com... well birds seem to be fond of them (smoked cigaret butts) as they can be used by the birds to fight parasites in their nests

Stuffing cigarette butts into the lining of nests may seem unwholesome. But a team of ecologists says that far from being unnatural, the use of smoked cigarettes by city birds may be an urban variation of an ancient adaptation. Birds have long been known to line their nests with vegetation rich in compounds that drive away parasites. Chemicals in tobacco leaves are known to repel arthropods such as parasitic mites, so Monserrat Suárez-Rodríguez, an ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, and her colleagues wondered whether city birds were using cigarette butts in the same way.

so i guess we could start having people just going around popping them into birds nests so that they do some good
www.scientificamerican.com...

www.popsci.com... china found a novel approach to the matter

A message from Chinese scientists: "Stop throwing out your cigarette butts!" Researchers have devised a financially viable process for recycling cigarette leftovers to extract chemicals present in the filters. And doing your part to recycle cigarette butts could help save one of our most precious resources -- oil companies. That's right, oil companies. Cigarette butts contain a lot of chemicals, nine of which can be extracted and turned into compounds that are highly effective at preventing corrosion of a kind of steel widely used in the oil industry. Constantly replacing rusting pipes is a serious financial drain on oil producers worldwide, and a better anti-corrosive would help curb those costs. Of course, the public isn't exactly drowning in warm, fuzzy sentiments for Big Oil right now (thanks, BP). Which makes the timing of such an announcement somewhat bizarre. But it's worthwhile to consider the upside to such a proposal. Cigarette butts can survive for up to 15 years in the sea (they're toxic to some fish), and 4.5 trillion of them make their way out into our ecosystems every year. So simply by collecting and disposing of cigarette butts in some kind of organized manner, there's a built-in benefit to all of us.

so i guess you can try to turn them into oil some how so at least some people are working on the problem you mention in your OP

usatoday30.usatoday.com... and one un named tobacco company is providing shipping labels so they can be shipped and destroyed at no charge to try to lessen the environmental impact so solutions are out there and being implemented

Private companies are launching programs that not only encourage people to pick up the butts but also recycle them. Contrary to what many smokers may think, cigarette filters are not biodegradable: They are made with a plastic that can leach their toxic chemicals into the environment. In July, TerraCycle will begin providing free UPS shipping labels — paid for by an unnamed American tobacco company — so people can mail in butts they've collected. TerraCycle will turn the butts into plastic pallets for industrial use.

so they seem to be turning them into industrial pallets

ripplelife.org... this may be of interest to ya op as well as they are doing what they do with cans now giving u "cash back" for recycling they pay 3 dollars a pound for cigaret butts so if any one wants to make some money go start cleaning out all the Tangiers/Caesars palace ash trays

a reply to: RalagaNarHallas

If this catches on - we can expect homeless people to pick up and turn in cigarette butts as they do with litter from non-smokers!

Tired of Control freaks

The major thing being overlooked here is that not all rules or laws are made to piss people off. Sure that's usually a by product of it. Mostly they are set because of health and safety, not just yours but mine too.

Take your hotel room argument a few pages back and combine it with another statement about drunk people and fires. I know most times that I have stayed in hotels, it has been because i am too drunk to go home. Most people are the same. Take those drunk people going back to the hotel rooms and lighting up the ciggys and falling asleep with them in their hands. So ok the hotel rooms are all fire retardant fabrics you will argue, but it will still set all the alarms off in the place and we all get to go outside to the elements anyway. Plus there will be some damage and extra cleaning required for the hotel staff.

Take the one I posted earlier about smoking whilst driving. Say some guy does drop a cig on his carpet, bends down to grab it quick because those beemers have expensive carpets. Eyes off the road for a split second and wipes me out coming the other way. He better hope that when he kills me that he goes too or I will haunt that sob for the rest of his life.

Only two examples mate but I could go on. Like I said at the start, it is not always about pissing you off but maybe saving a life or two. A moments carelessness can be a lifetime of pain.

As for the litter thing, if we start with small steps then maybe my decendants can enjoy the planet too. It is highly unlikely though if we keep exercising our god given right to do whatever the hell we like. We are all in this together.

a reply to: TiredofControlFreaks

So you're comparing segretating people based on skin color to segregating people who pollute the air around them with smoke that only smokers themselves seem to find inoffensive?

You think its jim crow to not let you pollute other people's air? Seriously?

You think people glaring at you for making a bubble of foul smelling air around you is the same as glaring at folks for a different skin color?

Really dude?

a reply to: sierra25ni

Just in one province in one little country with a population of only 35 million - we have over 1.5 million laws on the books.

It is no longer possible for any citizen anywhere to avoid breaking a law. We are all criminals.

Wouldn't putting ashtrays in cars provide for better safety while driving and protect the environment?????? Wouldn't providing smokers with comfortable smoking shelters also do the same thing?

Some laws just aren't needed.

Tired of Control Freaks

a reply to: framedragged

Isolation and segragation are weapons of discrimination regardless of the basis. If you are so concerned about the bubble of foul air around me, I would think you would support providing comfortable smoking shelters where the smoke can be contained and treated before discharge and that those places would be places where YOU would never have to go!

But its not about the foul air - or most people would choose NOT to drive vehicles or wear perfume or eat garlic.

So yes - I am seriously comparing jim crow laws against smokers with jim crow laws against minorities of colour.

Tired of Control Freaks

Around my home I ask smokers to not throw out butts when visiting. I provide them a glass jar to use until full. They always remark how gross it gets, ironically.

Im growing my own tobacco.

You can buy seeds online and contrary to popular belief is 100% legal. You are not allowed to sell it.

The seeds are only £4, you get about 200 and if you get golden virginia, it is a natural organic plant (not gmo tobacco....yes they do that too) which produces seeds (gmo tobacco does not). There are many companies online selling these.

They grow in most moderate climate places, and are very easy. The longer you cure the tobacco, the milder / smoother it is. It is a great hobby and very very cheap. No additives.

No filters, just use a small piece of rolled up cardboard where the filter would be. Some people do not use anything as a filter in roll ups, that is a big mistake, lip cancer, yeah, it happens. Keep the tobacco away from your skin while smoking it.

The best option is the e-cig route though. I am currently making the transition and surprised at how easy it is. Onhly having 2 smokes a day (from 20) after using an e-cig for about 3 weeks.

a reply to: TiredofControlFreaks

Then I have completely misunderstood your argument and I apologise. You see over here I have never seen a car without an ashtray. Most public places like hospitals, hotels do provide shelters but it is entirely up to the owner. Take the pubs for example, they provide beer gardens which have been a major success. You walk into a pub and there is maybe only a few folk in there. You then discover everyone else is out in the beer garden. Smokers grumbled at the start but it became clear that pubs had to provide these areas in order to do business.
Not everywhere provides shelters though but I don't think the local greengrocer or butcher really needs to.
Our litter bins also have a built in ashtray with stub out plates. I think your council must be lagging behind by not providing these and that is probably also why we are subjected to more fines.

As for the bloat of completely unnecessary laws, I am completely with you. Some stand for a good reason though.

Read the whole thread. TiredOfControlFreaks actually makes some very valid points. Smokers are vilified out of all proportion as a group maybe except for pro-choice groups. We pay exorbitant taxes for the privilege of this bullying.

I am in no way saying smoking is a healthy activity

I am in no way saying I as a smoker have the right to infringe on non-smokers health.

However, if you are going to engage in an activity you are also obligated to do so responsibly. I understand that TOCF is "protesting" by civil disobedience this bullying. That is vastly different than just being a wanton litterbug. Peta does the same by splashing blood all over people wearing fur. Sure.....tossing bio-hazard material all over people is more acceptable?? WTF????

Should the taxes be lifted tomorrow on cigarettes non-smokers would be squealing like pigs at having to pick up that slack.

I have red butt cans posted on my property as a convenience for myself & friends. I field strip and dispose of my butts in the trash. The point is currently butts are extremely toxic however some moron legislated somewhere along the line they are mandatory in the US and we're stuck with it.

Filterless cigs CAN be manufactured, however companies aren't doing it. THAT's who all this ire should be directed at.
Our Cig tax money is used for everything under the sun like a bloody cash cow. Originally that money was earmarked for non-smoking legislation. Like any revenue stream it's been misappropriated for nine kinds of unrelated things.

None of these side issues make cig butts any less toxic. I'm glad the birds are benefiting...if you've ever seen a nest of baby birds with mites crawling all over them it would break your heart.

I'd rather dump a trash bag of butts on the legislators doorstep than just randomly toss them, but hey that's me. I agree they are a "type" of biohazard but that's something education covers not legislation. You are NEVER going to make someone who doesn't give a crap care by vilifying/shaming them.

a reply to: sierra25ni

Just to give you an example of how unreasonable this all is:

In Ontario Canada, pretty much every nursing home had managed to get smokers to agree to confine there smoking to a smoking room. This room was marked and well-known and it had separate ventilation. Now for some unknown reason, you couldn't visit Grandma and go into the smoking room and have a smoke and a cup of tea with her but at least the nursing home residents themselves had a comfortable place to smoke that was separately ventilated.

In 2006, the law was changed. Those separate smoking rooms now had to have separated ventilated double doors. For example- you enter one set of doors and walk a certain length and enter the room through another set of doors. All of the window coverings and furniture had to be made of plastic and NURSING HOME STAFF WERE FORBIDDEN to assist anyone to the smoking room. (How inhumane can it get!)

Well of course, this change required money that most nursing homes didn't have. So the existing smoking rooms had to be demolished

Now the senior citizens are forced to go outside for a smoke. Most nursing homes have some kind of gazebo type deal with a roof and maybe half walls. Smokers are not allowed to seek shelter in these gazebos.

So if its raining or if its really hot - no shelter for you, you disgusting 75 year old smoker!

Now remember - this is canada! We get at least 3 or 4 weeks of minus 50 degree weather and lots of snow. These seniors must be able to walk or manhandle their wheelchairs out the door and at least 75 feet away from the entrance, through the snow. And no one is allowed to help them!

We have had couple of cases where people got locked out accidently and ended up freezing to death.

If the seniors fail to comply - they are evicted!

Then we have mental patients. They are strip seared everytime they return to the ward to ensure that they are not carrying cigarettes or lighters!

Many people are avoiding treatment because they know that they will condemned to forced smoking cessation treatment and that they must accept the indignity and control, if they want treatment.

Further, the provincial government is proposing a new law to ban smoking from all outdoor patios in hospitality industry and from all municipal and provincial parks in the province. So all those bars and restaurants that spent $100,00 to build patios to accomodate smokers in some fashion are now out of luck.

To go out for a beer on a patio, I must now put my beer down, walk outside the patio fence, lean on the fence to have a smoke and then return to the patio to drink my beer.

Tired of Control Freaks

Tired of Control

Someone in an earlier post made the statement that you can smoke in a private space, like a private club or a home residence. Here in Michigan, our previous governor outlawed smoking in any place, private or public, that was in an enclosed building where the public might gather. Also, smoking isn't allowed within a certain distance from a building entrance.

Hospitals and schools don't even want you to smoke in your car in their parking lots. Not even private clubs, like biker clubhouses, bingo halls, frat houses, etc., are allowed indoor smoking, it's only allowed in in casinos or tobacco shops. They even have laws banning smoking in your own home if you receive certain help from the state.

In the last 5 years or so since it's enactment, the smoking ban has destroyed the night life in my state. Most of the bars in my area are closed now because of this and many "pole barn" parties are a regular weekend event so people can smoke, drink, dance, eat, and even gamble or smoke dope, while they socialize.

It is time to embrace the underground society and the black market and take the associated risks to live your life in the pursuit of freedom and happiness. They will eventually be putting people in jail for smoking or possessing tobacco, but I bet the tobacco industry will continue on and even receive subsidies from the government to do so.

Quote form Jimmie Hendrix,
"I'm the one that has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to."

This agenda is actually being pushed pretty hard.

I was just down to the store, to buy filtered cigarettes of course, and while I drive alone, I listen to talk radio on the AM dial. I just heard a paid advertisement pushing this agenda.

If they are paying for ads on my local AM radio stations, then these ads are being networked all over the country. I wonder how much their advertising budget is in order to do just those ads?

They should just stop wasting time and money on advertising and push through some laws to put smokers in jail and confiscate all their assets. I'm sure the revenue stream will help the fat cats import more Cubans (no filter, so they're good).