No ifs, ands or butts: Stop the cigarette litter

You drive? You pollute more than any cigarette smoker...

Pete DeMarco, fellow Globe reporter here. I'll add to Beth's point: if you were to throw the cigarette from your car while in a wooded area, you'd be breaking the state's fire-prevention law. "Whoever drops or throws from a vehicle . . . any lighted cigarette, cigar, match, live ashes or other flaming or glowing substance . . . shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100 and by imprisonment for not more than 30 days."

As a smoker myself the reasoning behind tossing the butt out the window is quite simple. Where else are we supposed to put them? they have taken ashtrays out of newer cars, probably to persuade people to not smoke, but since they are gone I have found that puting the burning butt anywhere but outside causes fire inside my car. I would think that other people around me would rather I toss the small butt out the window then allow my car to go up in flames and possibley cause them injury. But since you are curious I would like you I agree the clutter of litter is ugly and if there are other options, such as an ashtray I believe most smokers attempt to use them.

This article is right on! It is completely inconsiderate that smokers consider the outside their ashtray. I feel that ever since ashtrays were taken out of cars that butts are thrown out windows even more frequently.

At South Station, I've watched smokers smoke and dispose of butt on the ground right in front of MBTA and Boston police. Everyone turns a blind eye to this, and I can't understand why. I also see this practice in front of some of our teaching hospitals in the city. Hello! You're a healthcare facility, so why do you allow people to light and throw trash on the ground directly next to your main entrances???

I"m not a smoker, and I do sympathize that places that smokers can light up has decrease dramatically over the years. However, this doesn't give any of them the right to make the city (and suburbs) their waste basket for others that actually take pride.

I get a kick out of the people that actually glorify it with the "The World is my Ashtray" bumper stickers. I say if that is the case, then we make their car my toilet.
Scumbags, that's what they all are.....

Question: What's the cleanest thing in the universe?
Answer: The ash tray in a cigarette smoker's car.

I'm glad someone finally wrote this. I have thought the same thing for a long while. Maybe someday we can change the culture of thinking this kind of litter is alright.

as someone that does enjoy the occassional cigarette i would urge this request to be passed into law because many do the majority of their smoking in the car and flick the butt out the window because the alternative [putting it in the ashtray - which i personally use as a change tray] is somewhat disgusting and it is too easily justifiable to simply litter the ground with our refuse.

It's a disgusting habit and also dangerous. How many fires have started because of smoking. And how many trhow a lit cigarette out a window? I swear these people were beaten with the dumba** stick. And of course my favorite (being a nursing student) are those on oxygen and smoke. They are just looking to be blown up. And I agree, aesthetically it's just DISGUSTING. If you can smoke it, you can hold for a few extra minutes until you find a proper receptacle. If you were really that embarassed to be holding it for such a long time, you wouldn't smoke.

Smokers should additionally be required to forfeit Medicare benefits that will pay for lung cancer and/or emphysema. What a filthy and disgusting habit that we pay for now when the smokers consider the world their ashtray, and later when it catches up with them.

Not to mention it makes even the most beautiful woman immediately ugly. Not to mention when she gets "smoker's face".

Ugh. The only thing worse is chewing tobacco. How's that mouthful of cancer?

They toss them indiscriminately not because it's not proactive, but actually because they think it's hip.

@Anonymous Smoker: "they've taken ashtrays out of cars"? Have you thought of bringing your own ashtray instead of making the world your ashtray?

Amen to this. I often point out to people how absurd they are when they throw lit butts out their window.

As for Anonymous Smoker...I would rather your car go up in flames than your stupidity start a forest fire.

Get an ass tray for your car you idiot...your butt should not be my problem

This problem will probably never cease, as long as there are still smokers. I'm sure there are exceptions, but the smoker mindset seems to favor apathy. They don't care about harming their body, so they certainly won't care about harming the environment.

$1,000 fine if caught.

It will change behaviors.

I've seen these used cig containers that fit right in your cupholder. Just dispose of your butts in there, close the top, let them burn out and cool, and just empty it into the garbage once in a while. Modern cars may lack ashtrays but they certainly do not lack cupholders. Google the concept if you're interested; I'm sure you can find something like this.

get a life all of you people - i will toss my butts wherever I want - don't you have more important things to worry about. Perhaps you all would like to outlaw smoking - which would include the state and federal taxes - then see how quickly you all have to pay more taxes. The world is literally coming apart and you're worried about me throwing butts out of my car?

We live next door to a breakfast and lunch diner. For the most part, their customers are very considerate insofar as not making an undue amount of noice or littering is concerned. However, smokers think nothing about emptying their ashtrays or what pass for ashtrays in the parking area, much of which ends up in our yard. I have one question for such inconsiderate blank blanks, how would you like us to dump our garbage in your yards?

I’m a smoker, I use the ashtray in my car, and once I had a car without an ashtray so I used one from the house. On the RARE occasions that I do not use an ashtray outside…there is none available. Smoking is not illegal! It’s not bad enough that we smokers are treated like second-class citizens. The state taxes us extra, we must smoke outside, and even that has been limited in some areas. If the woman on 95 tossed her butt out the window, maybe she just didn’t want to take an ashtray from home and put it on the passenger seat. Or maybe she is just sick of being treated like someone not equal to a non-smoker.

I need to start honking my horn at people who do that. I hate when I'm driving down the road and all of a sudden have this flaming projectile coming right at me. Not to mention the smell that comes in through the vents.

I also find it hilarious that people will hold their cigarette outside their window and blow out the window while they're driving because they don't want their car to smell like smoke.

I applaud the fact that it's getting more and more difficult to "find a place to smoke" as a protection for everyone's health. I see it as progress towards a healthier world. I enjoy going to restaurants and being able to enjoy my food instead of being irked that I smell cigarettes burning.

That being said, if newer cars don't have a "smokers package", go to the local WalMart and pick one up! You can buy an ashtray that sits in your cupholder for a couple bucks in the auto section. Save the rest of us from your disgusting habits

Oh - this has driven me crazy for years. It is SO UGLY. It is definitley littering. It is definitely NOT OKAY. Last year I walked by the Cambridge courthouse and the floor by the enterance was littered with cigarette butts. So ugly!! And then there is the cloud of cigarette smoke you have to walk thru to enter. It is totally unacceptable. I once got into a fight with an old man in Cambridge because I saw him open his car door, dump out a huge ashtrash onto the ground and shut his door. I let him have it. it is not okay. The rest of us have to look at his pile of trash for weeks or months until the streetsweepers come. Just think about it a little folks. Think of the other poeple who have to see this and clean it up after you!!! Stop littering our beautiful country and throw your butts in the trash along with your other trash.

People who don't smoke should not be allowed to have a public voice on anything. Especially here.

The horrific fires last month in Australia that killed 200 people and devastated communities and lives, may have been caused by improper disposal of cigarettes. As we experience more drought in this country due to climate change, smokers need to be more careful. The cigarette industry needs to create a product that self-extinguishes.

Here's a crazy idea...make filters biodegradable...

Smoking is a dirty habit, period. For you, those around you and for the environment. You have a right to smoke? Well I have a right not to get lung cancer or have to work all my life to pay your medical bills when you are unable to work. The most aggregious offenders are those who toss butts on the ground RIGHT NEXT TO the outdoor ashtrays! How about the folks who smoke in front of the sign at South Postal which states it is a crime to smoke in this area. Then there is the MBTA/Commuter Rail, not only do the riders ignore the "no smoking on MBTA property" signs but the the employees of the MBTA and MBCR ignore them as well!

Nan, They have, and in MA as of last year that is the only type of cigarette sold in the state. All you non-smokers, just stop putting down smokers. It is a habit and a hard one to stop. You all forget that not that far in the past smoking was on TV, in the movies, it was excepted as ok, and smokers were not treated like trash. When we were able to smoke in restuarants and bars, I always asked the person next to me if it would bother them, if they said yes I would move, but one time I was sitting at a bar, had a lit cigarette in my hand. This person sat next to me ( there were plenty of other places to sit), then started coughing. Sorry I was there first

I can't believe someone would actually say they pollute because there is no ashtray in their car. I almost have to think the post was a joke. What kind of car is this anyways? Most vehicles still have ashtrays, and they all still have them as an optional accessory. If you don't have one, then make or buy your own. Don't put people's homes and lives at risk... we already had a president due a good enough job with that. These people are so piggish. You can just see them saying my toilet was backed up so I have decided that I am just going to go take a dump in the road everytime I gotta crap from now til my pathetic life ends. HA

Kind of expect this to not make it past the filter but.. at least the editor will read it.

Its too bad it takes so long for cigarettes to kill their users really.

No perception of anyone else other than themselves.

Stop the SUV air pollution. Stop throwing your Starbucks cups out the window of your car onto my lawn.

Once I saw a person stop at a traffic light, open his door, and dump his entire ashtray on the ground next to his car while he was stopped at the light. Such behavior is extreme and even most smokers would not do that, but how it became acceptable to throw the butt out the window is beyond me. I haven't seen a good explanation from any of the posts by smokers in this string of comments. Statistics tell us that smokers tend to be far less eductated than non-smokers. Given the quality of the responses by smokers on this forum, I would say that statistic is probably correct.

I smoked for 20 years, I gave up 10 years ago so I find it hard to be too critical of smokers who are doing just what I did for 20 years. I do find smoking and throwing cigarettes out of cars annoying now though.

What I find more annoying and inexcuseable is the attitude of non smokers. While smoking is legal smokers have exactly the same rights as non smokers. To make a comment such as "Smokers should additionally be required to forfeit Medicare benefits that will pay for lung cancer and/or emphysema" is sheer idiocy. Maybe people we should put filters on who can reply to newspaper columns.

On the other side of the argument smokers who say "People who don't smoke should not be allowed to have a public voice on anything. Especially here." is equally stupid.

Maybe the one thing we can take from this people can be stupid no matter what their smoking habbit is.

Hey, #19 NE - Farting in public isn't illegal and it's a personal right. Public Farters unite! We will not be considered second class citizens....what?

Be serious!! Smoking is the NUMBER 2 KILLER in America (after obesity). While I support your right to kill yourself slowly, do it on your own property, and don't litter. The costs of your smoking on the country are outrageous.

Question 1: About how many smokers die from illness attributable to smoking?
Correct answer: Half

Question 2: About how many ex-smokers die from illness attributable to smoking?
Correct answer: 10-37%
Explanation:
Doctors have discovered that even ex-smokers still have a substantial risk of developing smoking-related illnesses. Indeed, some of the effects of smoking are irreversible.

Question 3: An ex-smoker's risk from heart disease and stroke returns to the level of risk faced by a non-smoker about how long after quitting smoking?
Correct answer: 5-15 years
Your answer: 3-4 weeks 6 months 5-15 years Never you left this question blank

Question 4: A study of U.S. soldiers showed that smokers were approximately how much more likely than non-smokers to catch colds during basic training?
Correct answer: 50%

Explanation:
Studies have shown that smokers are often more susceptible to colds and other respiratory infections.

Question 5: Some people plan to smoke infrequently, but approximately what portion of smokers eventually become regular daily smokers?
Correct answer: 90%

Explanation:
Because people develop a tolerance for nicotine (the addictive substance in tobacco products), very few people can smoke just a little for a long period of time.

#19: "Or maybe she is just sick of being treated like someone not equal to a non-smoker."

I think that's the whole point of this article. Smokers and nonsmokers should be treated equally. And throwing your butt out the window is littering and therefore smokers who throw their butts out the window should be subject to the same fines and general disdain we reserve for ALL litterers. Don't try to make this a "smokers are so oppressed" issue.

The smokers here that keep saying things like "we're second class citizens" and other BS are unbelievably ignorant.
It has NOTHING to do with you being a smoker, it has EVERYTHING to do with you not considering that butts thrown out your window is LITTERING.
Should I be able to toss my Pepsi bottle on the highway since soda is legal?

Hey Anonymous Smoker, stop being a clown, put a gatorade bottle with some water at the bottom in your cup holder and throw your cigarette butt in there. Is this really that hard? How would you feel if everyone in your town decided that your front yard was the best place to toss a cigarette butt because they don't have an ash try in their car? Maybe if you had a brain stem this wouldn't be that complicated.

Forfeit benefits, no. I believe everyone has the same rights to everything, whether they smoke or not.

HOWEVER, I do feel smokers should pay a higher price for insurance plans because they're consciously doing things to their body that statistically would cause them to require more health care. It's a similar reason the cigarette tax has been going up -- to pay for the extra costs (Yes, I know it's not the DIRECT reason, but indirectly it's the same).

It's the same with health insurance -- People who are at higher risk of cost pay higher.

Now, I'm going to go on a mini rant. "Inexcusable... attitude of non smokers... same rights" -- Yes, I agree smokers and non-smokers have the same rights. HOWEVER, when it comes to determining who's right is right, they tend to favor the non smokers for the following reason: Reduce the number of people you're putting "at risk". Non-smoking areas are becoming larger and larger because you're not risking the health of the "general public" directly -- including children (who usually don't have a say in situations). Some people are allergic to smoke and cannot be around it. That's the key that everyone needs to realize.

...Now, if we could only make pollen illegal for the exact same reason... ;-)

I said I use my ashtray. All of you that are bashing me didn't read my posts. just scaned. I pay extra taxes for my habit. I pay extra for my health care for my habit. It is a addiction, and I pay for it. I have tried to quit a number of times with no sucess. And I am treated like a second class citizen, when I go OUT for a cigg I go to my car, ok in the summer I have the window open, but I still get dirty looks. My point was not all smokers toss their butts out the windows. And not all smokers are inconsiderate. However most of the posts are, and grouping all smokers together. as inconsiderate trash.

I have a long highway commute. A lit cigarette once flew from the car in front of me and into my open driver side window. This caused me to swerve during high speed traffic and almost caused a very bad accident.

Aside from littering, I don't think people realize what could potentially happen when they are tossing them out. I called in the license plate number of the car, but nothing ever happened.

The biggest butt-chuckers I've ever seen are the Clean Harbors employees in Norwell. Clean Harbors has signs posted all over its property that it is a "Smoke Free Campus" and that employees are not allowed to smoke there. So they don't....they just walk and park along the adjacent roads and puff and toss there. Where they sit in their cars and puff every day, there's an inches-deep pile of butt litter at the curb that never existed until this company moved into the office park I'm with a group of people that walk through the office park almost every lunchtime, and we're disgusted by the rotting heaps of cigarette butt trash generated by this group of people. Gross!

Hey Russ (#36) et al - I totally agree!

But let me take it a step further...

How about to be consistent we start normalizing health care premiums against BMI? Both obesity and smoking lead to long term health problems. Maybe after that we can go after people with preexisting conditions. Lastly, we can have higher premiums for those people who statistically fall into categories where their race/gender/sexual preference tend to have higher costs of health care. Why should the healthy carry the financial burden of the unhealthy!?!? Right, Russ??!?!

Maybe as a final step, Russ, we can get rid of health care all together. We'll pay a la carte. Healthy guys, like me and you, Russ, can pay less while those decrepit smokers, handicapped, disabled, transgendered, etc pay their own way.

P.S. I'm not a smoker.

Thank you! Smokers seem to think they have some license to not only selfishly pollute the lungs of those around them, but then have the nerve to think it's OK to leave their cigarette afterbirth on the sidewalk! It's gross, people! Dispose of your butts the way you would any other trash item, please!

Concerned for USA intelligence,
Sorry, I have to disagree. I am also an ex-smoker. It has been PROVEN that smoking causes all kinds of health problems, so if a smoker is knowingly engaging in behavior that causes health issues, they should not be eligible to receive medicare/medicaid. It's a disgusting and filthy habit that costs way too much. Yes, I agree, it's hard to break, I can remember, but it IS a destructive behavior and those who engage in it do NOT have the right to take away resources set aside for those who are smart enough to either stop that behavior or not engage in it at all

Oh - this has driven me crazy for years. It is SO UGLY. It is definitley littering. It is definitely NOT OKAY. Last year I walked by the Cambridge courthouse and the floor by the enterance was littered with cigarette butts. So ugly!! And then there is the cloud of cigarette smoke you have to walk thru to enter. It is totally unacceptable. I once got into a fight with an old man in Cambridge because I saw him open his car door, dump out a huge ashtrash onto the ground and shut his door. I let him have it. it is not okay. The rest of us have to look at his pile of trash for weeks or months until the streetsweepers come. Just think about it a little folks. Think of the other poeple who have to see this and clean it up after you!!! Stop littering our beautiful country and throw your butts in the trash along with your other trash.

I've always believed it: to cigarette smokers, the world is their ash tray. Need to flick ashes from the end of a butt? Flick them on the ground or out the window. Need to despoit your cigarette butts someplace? The ground is a perfect place.

To those who say that cars don't come with ashtrays anymore, that's a lame excuse. Go to any auto parts store and you can buy an ashtray that fits in your cup holder for $10.

But why would anyone go through that trouble when it's so easy to toss those ashes and butts on the ground.

# 17 smokerman - what's your address? i'll clean mile of highway just to dump the butts all over your lawn and car. i'm sure that'll be more of a problem than your economy!

I used to live on a busy road. After awhile I got so sick of the lawn being used as a dumping ground for those who would rather throw their butts, soda cans whatever out the window.
Let's take down the license plates of those who throw trash out of their car windows, such as butts. In the middle of the night, we should dump a pile of smoked butts on their lawn and see their reaction.

How would you like a pile of smoked butts on your lawn?

Bottom line, it's littering and a fire danger. Do you think all those brush fires along highways start themselves?

When you see some one drop a butt out at a light, promptly get out of your car, pick it up and flick it back into the offenders car. After one burnt up car, the smoker will get the idea.

used to live on a busy road. After awhile I got so sick of the lawn being used as a dumping ground for those who would rather throw their butts, soda cans whatever out the window.
Let's take down the license plates of those who throw trash out of their car windows, such as butts. In the middle of the night, we should dump a pile of smoked butts on their lawn and see their reaction.
How would you like a pile of smoked butts on your lawn?

I get a kick out of people in big ol' SUV's sidling up to a Taurus and lecturing on the environment. I say, when you drive a 50 mpg hybrid, you can lecture me, until then quit pointing your finger at me and shove it up your oversized tailpipe.

I'm a smoker (oh the shame!). I got the ashtray thing for my cupholder in my car, so that is solved. After 9/11, they removed about 70 percent of the trash barrels from city streets and it seems all the ashtrays thus making it exceedingly difficult to find an honorable place to put a cigarette butt. If I can't find a trash can, I'll put it in the gutter in hopes it will get picked up by a street sweeper. I won't use a sidewalk becuse I hate the thought of a person having to clean up my mess.

New cars don't have ashtrays, thus some of you think that throwing your butts out the window is your only option? That is one weak argument. You can, and should, do better for your fellow citizens and yourself. Here's a simple solution: my grandmother, a life-long smoker despite my years of protest, carries a small cup of water in her cupholder. When she finishes with a cigarette she puts it out in the water and then puts it into the bag that she keeps in her car for trash. Her car doesn't small bad and she's not flinging trash out the car window on a daily basis. Sounds pretty easy to me.

HOWEVER, I do feel smokers should pay a higher price for insurance plans because they're consciously doing things to their body that statistically would cause them to require more health care.

Smokers have lower lifetime medical costs than nonsmokers, who hang around incapacitated for years in old age soiling their bedlinens and staring at the wall. That's simple statistics. Wonder if anybody has ever done a study showing the lifetime medical expenses of idiots?

I used to smoke and I never did this. I'd put the butts in my pocket before I put them on the ground. ya, gross but not in anyone else's space.
My theory on the driving butt tossers is that they are sneaking a cig behind someone's back so they can't leave it in the car. True in a lot of cases.

Banning smoking entirely from everywhere would solve the litter problem nicely, and save lives at the same time. It's a filthy, smelly, poisonous addiction that has absolutely no redeeming social value.

Want to raise revenue? Each butt tossing should be a $1000 (one thousand $) fine. Park in a handicapped spot, texting while driving, same. The list goes on and on.

The only joy I see in smokers tossing their butts, is knowing they will likely die a slow death later on in life from cancer.

Prison time. That's what i say. No. Wait. Better yet... DEATH ROW!!! That'll teach those inconsiderate jerks not to litter.

Chris Burnham dont act like you are the greenest in the world...there is an obvious and huge difference...

NE, don't complain about being called a second class citizen. From where I stand calling you one is an insult to second class citizens everywhere.

"I do feel smokers should pay a higher price for insurance plans because they're consciously doing things to their body that statistically would cause them to require more health care."

Statistically, smokers die younger of relatively inexpensive diseases and are less likely to collect Social Security and other benefits. Honest actuaries will tell you that from a healthcare cost and longterm care perspective, smokers and their early deaths are a benefit to society.

And I look forward to your next expose about gum.

Least butts don't stick to my shoes after walking on hot asphalt.

The first thing that came to mind while reading this story was that Beth must have solved all of her own problems and is now working on other people's.

I use a lot of post-it notes. Those are also probably just about as bio-degradable as cigarette buts, but you don't see me throwing them on the ground when I'm done. Just because you use it outside doesn't mean you can throw it on the ground. I don't throw my fruit peels on the ground when I eat lunch outside, even though they are completely biodegradable. It's litter, plain and simple. The world is not your trash can. I clean up after my lunch, and keep my post-its in my pocket until I reach a waste bin. Smokers need to learn to clean up after themselves, even if that means carrying an appropriate ash receptacle with them.

Smoking = Legalized Drug Addiction

Frankly I find the number of obese people and their SUVs (gee.... could there be a connection??) more visually offensive than some butts on the groups. Please put a fine on obese people. Oh, and dog owners who treat the world like it's a toilet for their dog.

Two comments: Just wait until the snow melts to really see how lovely those butts look; and for those smokers who use the excuse that their cars have cup holders, not ashtrays, stick an empty soda can in the cup holder and use that! Having a smoking habit is your choice, but throwing your zillions of butts onto the ground is NOT!

Most of the 'Nice Green People' who have commented here are what I call 'nose upturned snobs'.
How many of you have kids who litter the streets?
How many of you litter the streets (like many in my area) by not packing your trash properly on trash day?
How many of you pollute the land by having a poorly maintained vehicle that leaks oil or gas?
How many of you pay as much extra tax as a smoker does?
How many of you flush feminine products or condoms down the toilet and clog the wastewater systems, costing more money to operate?
Quit being so damned righteous. Look at yourself first.
Don't blame just smokers for your perceived injustice

I say heavily tax peolpe who eat more than one rib eye steak a week.
Heart disease, you know.
And don't forget those that drink soda... the most useless stuff in the world!
Lot's of cans and plastic in the street!

Thought for a follow-up article:
People who smoke in cars with children.
The concentrations of unhealthy substances in the air inside the car must be very high.

On TWO occassions I have been a victim of this criminal behavior when an ignorant butt-smoker made the choice to discard the butt while it was still burning. The butt was flicked into the air without a care for the potential fire danger posed by the action. I drive a Jeep that is usually driven with the top down in the warmer months. Twice a still burning butt has been flicked into my jeep. On the first occassion I wasn't certain that it really did make it inside until I saw the smoke coming from my back seat where the butt had ignited a duffel bag with workout clothes in it. The second time the butt landed in my lap and bounced onto the floor mat at my feet. Both times I was forcved to change lanes frantically to get to the right and pull off the rod to deal with a fire hazzard caused by someone else's criminal negligence..
There should be very serious punnishments for this very serious crime, which all to often is ignored. I've seen buts fly out the window right in front of state troopers with no reaction.

Where are the enforcers of the laws that are already on hte books? You interview the local and State Police and ask whey they choose not to enforce the littering and throwing lightred items from a vehicle???? If for no other reason, think of the added revenue if every smoker who indescriminately throws their butts to the ground get tagged with a $100 fine. Sure, 1 butt thrown on the gfround is insignificnt. But multiply that by 500,000 smokers statewide averaging 20 smokes per day and you end up with 10 million butts per day 3.5 BILLION per year. That adds up to a substantial amount of litter on the roads and the potential for brush and forest fires. It's time for law enforecement officials to take notice and begin enforcing the laws on the books.

Interesting story....and we have an answer
I am the inventor and patent holder of a pouch like " Extinguisher Ashtray" . This device, slightly larger than a business card, opens to hold a number of butts and matches, extinguishes a lit cigarette end in seconds...saving the driver from taking their eyes off the road while "butting".
Just open our ashtray..we call it a KIppiPak...and just drop the lit end into the pouch...and it goes out in about 6 seconds! Inexpensive....reusable many times! ...about a nickle each
J Bruce Winnacott
KippiPaks

Keep America Beautiful, the anti-littering organization referenced in the article, sounds like a very respectable group, doesn't it? In reality they have been taking money from Big Tobacco for years. Just enter "Philip Morris" into their search engine to see the influence of Big Tobacco on this organization. Why would Philip Morris want to draw attention to cigarette litter? Are they just demonstrating "corporate responsibility?" In reality, by drawing attention to the problem of cigarette litter they are able to suggest a "reasonable accommodation" for smokers: the generous placement of public ashtrays. Keep America Beautiful even asserts on its web site that the reason smokers litter is because there are not enough "ash receptacles" for smokers. (Of course, this is why smokers have been throwing cigarettes out of cars and on the ground everywhere for years, isn't it?) Philip Morris knows that visible signs of smoking, like ashtrays, send a strong signal to society, including children, that smoking is a normal and accepted part of life. Those Big Tobacco guys are so clever, getting an organization called Keep America Beautiful to do their dirty work. This front group should be renamed Keep America Smoking.

I know, throwing cig butts on the ground is not litering according to Officer Lamb of the lexington ky police department. I had to pick up about 25 or more cig butts, (this is on private property, apartment complexes) and then called the police to see if they could confront the neighbor about litering. Officer Lamb agreed that this is one of the most disgusting thing there is, and apparently Officer Lamb is a no smoker, good for him, and he cannot stand someone who pollutes the earth, good for him, (but I did see a Lexington Police officer driving s cruiser on time, no seat belt, smoking a cigg, and talking on the cell phone, oh yea and made a left turn without no signal, that was when I first moved to Lexing KY, I thought oh my gosh!!!) any way, to get back on the subject, Officer Lamb was really nice.
So, now what do I do, what do we do about having to walk on a cigg butt cushioned earth undder our feet. Oh yea, just great.

When I go to the beach on vacation, I wake up very early every morning. I get trash bags, go to the beach and pick up the litter left on the beach from the night before so the family...especially the kids...can play in the sand without having to sift through trash. I've been doing this for years. I can honestly say that the amount of trash has decreased in recent years except for 2 types--fireworks and cigarette butts. There are always ALOT of cigarette butts. I don't want my nieces, nephews and grandchildren playing in someone's ashtray.

I've done Coastal Cleanup a few times. The last time, I picked up a handful of cups, a handful of straws, a handful of candy wrappers and bandaids. In that same area, I picked up 600 cigarette butts. I got tired of trying to get them all. I have watched people take great pains to remove most of their trash from the beach...cups, cans, bottles, food wrappers...but they leave their cigarette butts in a little "hole" that they've dug and then cover them up with the sand. Do they think that they're gone because they can't see them?

When people walk down our street, they leave their cigarette butts wherever they finish them--many times in my yard. When I walk the dog, I take a trash bag with me. I pick up my dog's "trash" and usually other people's as well--mostly cigarette butts. I can't say that my children never littered. If they did and I knew about it, I got on their case and made them pick it up. It's NOT okay to litter and stats show that most litter is cigarete butts. Scientific studies show that they are also toxic litter.

Just STOP it!

"Here's a crazy idea...make filters biodegradable..."

That is crazy....asking companies that make a product known to cause health problems, to improve that product by making it safer for the environment. Think they care?

"It's an addiction"......apparently it's also a crutch.

Lots of funny stuff on here today. The point of the story isn't about smoking (although it is disgusting and nothing you can say changes that). It's about littering. Littering is about the laziest thing out there, second only to sitting on your @ss collecting welfare when you are capable of working! I don't know how people can be so lazy as to not be able to dispose of their trash properly!!

I live in an apartment with a small yard and I do my best to keep it clean so my young child can enjoy playing outside. That means I spend the better part of the year picking up other people's nasty cigarette butts, trash, and beer bottle because my neighbors can't be bothered to actually take their trash in from their own porch. I was raised to never litter....no matter what. So regardless of how tired, busy, or rushed I am, I make the time to throw my litter in a trash barrel or wait until I get home. There are NO excuses for littering....ever.

Cigarette Litter - An unseen environmental danger

I would like to draw attention to a problem which is largely forgotten.

Visit www.buttless.org for more information on how to sponsor a local or regional campaign today. Buttless products are the number 1 choice for governments and Businesses around the world.

Government and environmental agencies worldwide are spending millions of tax dollars tackling a problem that until recently has been largely unnoticed.

Cigarette litter has impacted on our environment to such an extent that it has become a focal point for top level governmental discussions worldwide.

Visual aids used to educate smokers about the harmful effects of their carelessness are easy enough, but proving to be ineffective. Innocently perhaps, smokers are generally unaware of the damage their littering causes the environmet.

Many Government and business organisations in Australia, USA, United Kingdom and further afield have put their corporate name and branding to support local and national anti-cigarette litter campaigns using ButtLess Personal Ashtrays.

Worldwide indoor smoking bans, whilst valid and necessary have had the counter effect of forcing millions of smokers to smoke outside. With this comes unsightly, unpleasant and unhealthy littering, as the butts will generally be cast off wherever they have finished their cigarette.

The Number one choice for city officials around the world the ButtLess Personal Ashtray has a depressed button designed to ensure it can never be opened accidentally and is finished in a range of attractive colours making them practical, attractive and safe to use. It is these features plus the excellent advertising and promotion space on the unit that has seen customers keep returning and working together with us to help improve their local environment.

UK Tel: +44 (0) 208 133 9336
Email: sales@buttless.org
USA Tel: +1 954 415 5345
Fax: +44 (0) 700 596 1336

Tonight we sit and wait to hear whether our one year old dog will live or die tonight. Earlier today he ate a cigarette butt tossed at the dog park. He's tiny so within the hour his belly was turning purple and he almost quit breathing. He's been on oxygen, iv's, catherterized for 7 hours and has now started to have seizures. IF he lives he may have permanent liver damage and require medication forever. Whether he lives or dies, the hospital bill is estimated to be at least $1200.....all because of the smoker's laziness

Field stripping:
Anyone who has been in the military should know what this is. When you finish your cancer stick scatter the remaining tobacco, pocket the filter and paper until they can be properly disposed of.

Its true that some of the newer cars don't have ashtrays so it is most convenient to throw them out the window but you can buy ashtrays that are shaped like a cup with a lid cigarette sized hole in the middle and holder slots to put in your cup holder