By
Lora J. Mackel
Smokers are the lepers of the 21st century. Perhaps it is for good reason, since they suck toxic fumes from a flaming tube despite repeated warnings about the effects it has on human health. The government and the people at large have tried, with power and money from the hefty tobacco settlement, to exert social pressure on smokers to quit. So far they have hung onto their habit despite the price increases, the taxing, and the removal from bars and restaurants with as much good humor as possible.
But a proposal in Maine is causing smokers to think more about how they smoke than why. Tired of the litter that butts produce, legislators in Maine have proposed a butt redemption program. Though this proposed program has drawn criticism, it is the best idea yet to combat the nasty and widespread problem of cigarette butt pollution.
How large is the cigarette pollution problem? Well, you only have to look to any city sidewalk to see the evidence of the smoking minority. Everywhere they congregate, they leave their tiny tubular calling cards. Some are flung burning from rolling cars while others are deliberately stubbed out by the toes of boots or the heels of stilettos.
And they are everywhere - 4.5 trillion butts a year are annually littered across the world, according to the cigarettelitter Web site.
That's right, the problem is so common that there is actually a nonprofit organization devoted to stopping the butts.
Many smokers feel justified in tossing their butts hither and yon because they believe the filters butts contain are made out of biodegradable ingredients, like cotton and paper. In truth, the filtration systems of American-marketed cigarettes are made from plastic fibers, which do not degrade quickly.
Most cigarette butts are not like orange peels or other organic materials - they remain in the environment for a long time and have an effect on the health of surrounding wildlife. Butts are frequently found in the systems of sea animals and other small animals like rodents. The butts contain trace amounts of poisonous chemicals that can interfere with the health of these creatures, and because the filters are not highly degradable, they can cause long-term digestive problems.
Unfortunately, the detrimental impact of butts is not restricted to animals. Human beings have to deal with the problem every time they enter a building and walk on a sidewalk. In some areas on our own campus, like outside residence halls, the butts are so numerous they have to be waded through.
And yet somehow the act of littering cigarette butts has become acceptable to human beings. Even people who are sensitive to environmental concerns rarely notice the hundreds of people a day that fling their stubs onto the streets, sidewalks and near the buildings on campus. The littering of butts is so prevalent that we simply do not notice.
That is why this proposal from Maine is so exciting - because it provided incentive for smokers to think about what they are doing. We have already had litter-control campaigns, and smoking has been portrayed as unattractively as possible. None of this has curbed the flow of butts from the mouths of smokers to the ground.
But if those butts are worth 5 cents, those highly taxed smokers might think twice before tossing them.
Smoking is a personal choice, and as long as people smoke away from others, they are only hurting themselves. They should, however, have the courtesy to clean up after themselves. That means disposing of butts in ashtrays, or in trash cans after they are fully extinguished.
In fairness to smokers, they must be provided with proper receptacles. If the university would spend some money on providing more ashtrays across the campus, countless hours of labor by our grounds keepers would be saved.
Unfortunately, the bill in Maine stands little chance of passage. Too many Maine residents have pictured little Girl Scouts on the side of the road collecting butts for charity, and balked at the idea.
A redemption program might not be the most feasible program ever dreamed up. But at least someone is thinking about the litter dilemma of those butts.
