pop your cherry.

Butts – they’re the most common form of litter the world over and we’re not talking booty.  According to the American Littoral Society, in 1998 over 176 million pounds of cigarette butts were discarded in the U.S.  This number has likely increased with the prevalence of indoor smoking bans and more outdoor puffing.  All the little butts add up to a big problem when they find they’re way into storm drains and subsequently into our streams, rivers and beaches.  And they don’t wash away quietly – each filter is actually made out of plastic (cellulose acetate) so they take forever to degrade.  The bottom line: filters pollute our waters and poison our ducks, fish, birds, whales and other aquatic life (they swallow them thinking they’re food).  So you want to help out but where do you butt out when there’s no trash in sight?  Just lightly pinch the cigarette close to the filter and spin it between your fingers until the tobacco and the lit cherry fall out.  Hold the empty filter (or put it in a plastic baggie or in your cigarette pack) until you go inside or can dispose of it properly.  Or, like they do in Australia, make your own portable ashtray with a little sand in an old plastic film canister (great for the beach).  One little act of green, many saved butts.

Photograph by Ben Schumin.