Aug

Cigarette Butt & Environment

Filed Under smoking

Smokers have been smoking all these while leaving millions of cigarette butts all over the planet. Most of you don’t realize that cigarette butts are dangerous to the environment. Every day, I can find many cigarette butts on the streets, roads and even public toilets. Basically, they are everywhere and no one cares about the danger it can impose to the environment.

When cigarettes were invented, cigarettes were only cigarettes but now in the present day when cigarettes have been upgraded to having filters that are said to be able to ‘filter’ out the dangerous component from the cigarettes and supposed to be ‘healthier’ than the conventional cigarettes. However, there is no such thing in the world as all cigarettes are dangerous.

Now, back to the filters of the cigarettes. If cigarette is a danger to health, what about the cigarette butts?

Facts about cigarette’s butt:

Cigarette filters’ function is to absorb some of the toxins in cigarette smoke and collect solid particles known as tar. The filters are also to keep tobacco from entering the smoker’s mouth.

Most cigarette filters contain a core of cellulose acetate and two layers of wrapping that are made of paper and/or rayon.

Cellulose acetate fibers in a cigarette filter are thinner than sewing thread and a single filter contains more than 12,000 of these fibers.

The inner wrapper on a cigarette filter is designed to either allow air to flow through it from the core for light cigarettes, or to block airflow for regular cigarettes.

The outer layer of paper is engineered to not stick to a smoker’s lips and attaches the filter to the tube of tobacco.

Chemicals are added to cigarette paper to control the burn rate, and calcium carbonate is added as a whitener, in part to create an appealing ash as the cigarette burns.

So, where are the threats?

When the cigarette butts flow into the river, the river is contaminated with the toxins. Can you imagine that we use the water from the river everyday for cooking and bathing?
Many fires start with the cigarette butts. All fires whether forest fires or home fires, most of the cause is cigarette butts.

Think of how many smokers are there in the world and the cigarette butts coming from them. It is time to quit smoking not only for a better health but also for a better environment.