Did you know that cigarette butts are the most commonly littered item around the world? In fact, they are the single greatest source of ocean pollution—even more than plastic straws! 😲
I believe it. On World Cleanup Day, my son’s classmates found enough cigarette butts on our hour-long litter walk to fill this bucket. And these weren’t even all the cigarette butts the class found—it’s only what a couple kids collected 🙁
Contrary to popular belief, cigarettes are not biodegradable. That’s because they contain a plastic filter that’s designed to absorb toxins. As a result, those seemingly harmless cigarette butts are full of toxic chemicals (over 7,000 of them, in fact). These toxins leach into the environment and harm the living organisms that come in contact with them, either through contaminated water or by ingesting them.
According to the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project, only 1/3 of cigarette butts are disposed of responsibly. The rest are thrown into the environment, contaminating soil or polluting oceans by way of storm drains, waterways and beaches. Flicked cigarette butts are also responsible for starting fires 😢
If you smoke, please smoke responsibly. Thank you 💚🌎