The most common form of litter in the world are cigarette butts. It is estimated that 4.5 trillion of the butts are tossed yearly.
Many people don’t realize that cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate tow, not cotton, and they can take decades to degrade.
Birds and animals eat these toxic items. Investigators in a San Diego State University study discovered that if you put fathead minnows and top smelt in a liter of water that also contains a single cigarette butt, half of the fish will die.
I decided I would answer this week’s Bastet’s Pixelventures challenge by creating a picture that shows the enormity of the cigarette butt litter problem. I did that by placing 1,375 butts in a single line on a sidewalk near my home.
Here is my entry for this week’s challenge!
Living, Learning and Letting Go 
What a lovely original post, this should help us all reflect on the problem! Great job, and thanks for linking Karuna. – Bastet
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Thanks! I had fun learning about one point perspective and creating something that I thought met the challenge!
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Glad you had fun, it certainly was very interesting to read and look at your experimental creation!
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Cigarette butts and chewing gum are pet peeves of mine, somehow people think it’s okay to just throw them away where they feel like. I wish more people would adopt a policy of leaving places as it was when they came, which reminds me of the Japanese football(soccer) supporters at the World Cup who cleaned up after themselves before leaving. I love that. It’s all about attitude.
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I hadn’t heard about the Japanese clean up at the World Cup. That is wonderful.
The problem is worse than ever because, at least in the U.S., ashtrays are essentially non-existent.
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Cool idea. Did any neighbors comment on your street art?
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Yes, several things happened. I am going to write up that story for Writing 101 Assignment #12. But not today! 🙂
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WoW! You did this yourself, Karuna! you sure are determined….good on you!!
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Thanks! It was fun…….
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You are an amazing person!
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Thank you……
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I should send this to my father! chain smoker 😦
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Better yet, visit him and invite him to go with you on a cigarette butt pickup walk. It makes quite an impression on smokers who are willing to do it.
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I wish I could.He lives 5000 miles away 🙂
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How do you think he would respond to you sending him the post? I’m curious. Some people would get angry.
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Probably ignore it. He’s been smoking for most of his life. Dont think it’ll affect him unfortunately.
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That would be a common response from people who have been smoking for that long I think.
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Sad 😦
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I can’t stand cigarette butts laying all over…
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They are everywhere…….
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What a great post. And perfectly demonstrates the problem with cigarette butt litter.
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Thanks!!!
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I love your curiosity and interest and passion, Karuna. I can imagine you having a blast putting all those butts in a line!
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Thanks Suzanne! It took a lot longer to make that line of butts than I thought it would, but it was fun to do something so different. And I am really enjoying learning about photography!
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Great Post!
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Thanks!
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OMG that is amazing, i cant believe you did that, wow, soooo clever and dedicated x
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It was fun to do and I loved seeing that the picture conveyed what I wanted it to convey. It will be useful in the future!
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🙂
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Well done. Your pictures and words are awesome. Thank you so much for showing the world what they are doing. I am allergic to cigarette smoke, and want to protect the precious innocent Earth, so I wouldn’t mind seeing them disappear from the world.
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I’m glad that you liked the pictures and story. I will be writing more about our Litter Project and cigarette butt pickup in the future. I love your passion for protecting Mother Earth.
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That is truly amazing. It must have taken a long time to set up that photo. I get so aggravated when I see butts on the ground. I have a neighbor who just throws them out on the grass in an area that is common ground in the neighborhood. I have considered putting a large can marked “butts” next to their front door. I wonder if half of the smokers even know how toxic their butts are to the environment; not to mention they hang around forever.
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I think most people don’t know how toxic they are. They think filters are cotton, which is not the case.
I’m part of a litter project that has picked up more than 213,000 butts! We’ve put out cans in some places. Occasionally they are used, but often city workers pick them up and throw them away.
One of the best ways to make the point is to spend time visibly picking them up. If you are in the U.S. or Canada you can turn in the butts to TerraCycle and they will recycle them into plastic pallets.
Once you become aware of the butts you will see them everywhere!
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Thanks. I am in the U.S. and I wasn’t familiar with TerraCycle.
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They accept many kinds of items that are normally not able to be recycled. And they pay the postage when you send them. They have different brigades. Everyone can join the cigarette butt brigade. Some brigades are easy to get into; others have waiting lists that may last for years (we’ve been waiting for two years in some cases).
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That certainly puts things into perspective!
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Yes it does. I think it is a picture I will be able to put to good use!
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Hi Karuna, I believe your genius genes are in motion….awesome perspective!
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I’m laughing…..
Thanks, it was fun to do!
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