No ifs, ands, or butts

Amid the sweeping environmental problems we face, it's easy to overlook something as small as a cigarette butt. For some reason, flinging cigarette butts on the ground in public remains socially acceptable. Do most people drop the remains of, say, their lunch on the sidewalk? Generally not.

The butts pile up: According to the American Littoral Society, cigarettes are the most common type of litter on earth. A study in the Journal of Tobacco Control reports smokers litter more than 4.5 trillion of them each year. Smoking's environmental impact (we won't go into the health woes here) is already atrocious: It emits 5.5 billion pounds of CO2 and more than 11 billion pounds of methane annually. Discarded butts add insult to injury, leaching hundreds of toxic chemicals (arsenic, lead, and benzene among them) into the water, air, and ground, killing birds, fish, and healthy microorganisms.

Many smokers argue that cigarettes are biodegradable; they're not. Almost all cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a very slow-degrading plastic. Besides, littering is illegal in Massachusetts anyway. Smokers, please stop using the world as your ashtray. Everyone else, if you see someone doing it, try saying (nicely), "Excuse me, you dropped something!" and see if you can get them (again, nicely) to pick it up. Maybe this will encourage them to put their butts where they belong.

Green tip: Do something healthy for the planet: Plant a tree. Pick up a freebie at Grow Boston Greener's tree giveaway, Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Murphy Community Center in Dorchester. Or save a tree by trying your own catalog canceling challenge along with Ted Wells's class at the Park School in Brookline. Visit www.catalogcancelingchallenge.com to learn more.

Christie Matheson is the author of "Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style." Send questions to globegreenside@yahoo.com.