Would a cigarette butt deposit-return system work in Canada, or anywhere?
Litter Prevention Program founder, Sheila White, is guest expert on radio show examining this question. Hear it here.
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Discarded cigarette stubs (July 10, 2014)
Illinois Legal Aid: Are cigarette butts litter? (April 26, 2014)
Village of Llanfairpwll hopes to stub out smoking in public places (April 8, 2014)
Give up smoking and get your £80 litter fine back! (November 1, 2013)
20 questions about smoking that will make you quit (July 1, 2013)
Impacts of Cigarette Litter - from the Tobacco State, USA
Cigarettes vs. e-Cigarettes: Which Is Less Environmentally Harmful?
Litter figures prominently in the arguments presented by John Clark Howard in this National Geographic piece from April, 2012.
Litter figures prominently in the arguments presented by John Clark Howard in this National Geographic piece from April, 2012.
MAY 31 - WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY - Which part of Canada has the most smokers?
The numbers are staggering. You have to imagine the litter because, as usual in health-focused stories, "litter" is not mentioned, which is unhelpful.
The numbers are staggering. You have to imagine the litter because, as usual in health-focused stories, "litter" is not mentioned, which is unhelpful.
Smoking down but cigarette litter up (May 15, 2013)
Rise in smoking-related litter [at a time when smoking is in decline] could be a consequence of more people smoking outside as a result of smoking bans and smokers not using ashtrays.
Rise in smoking-related litter [at a time when smoking is in decline] could be a consequence of more people smoking outside as a result of smoking bans and smokers not using ashtrays.
Smoking causes litter ... but it doesn't have to be that way, smokers.
Read our letter to tobacco industry CEOsSmokers draw strong opinions from Pennsylvania
Nonsmokers merit better treatment (April 8, 2013) To the Editor of theTimesTribune.com: Why do employers allow their workers to stand at the entranceway of their buildings, smoking cigarettes? This harmful, addictive habit has been banned from most indoor public places for a good reason. Allowing employees to smoke in your entranceway defeats the purpose of that ban. People must pass through a cloud of toxic chemical fumes just to access the building. Research has found that secondhand smoke from cigarettes can be just as harmful to nonsmokers as actually smoking a cigarette. These smokers frequently deposit their cigarette butts in the entranceway, on the sidewalk and in the street even if their employer provides a receptacle. This litter gets washed into sewers, then into streams, polluting our environment, unless someone else picks it up. Smokers take frequent breaks to feed their addiction with employers losing valuable minutes of productive time. It is unfair to nonsmoking employees, who take less break time. Smokers also run higher risks than nonsmokers of illness, disease and lost workdays. Because of this, nonsmokers are working a lot more time than smokers. If nonsmokers were compensated for making up for the loss of productivity and work days of smokers, or if these employees were given time to pursue healthy habits throughout the day that would use the same amount of time that it takes to go outside and smoke a cigarette or two, it would be more equitable. Few employers think of this issue in those terms. The time has come for employers to establish rules that tell workers to smoke on their own time instead of company time, to only smoke where the nonsmoking public cannot be harmed, to stop using the ground as their ashtray and to pay higher insurance premiums for the extra time off that their addiction creates. DONNA GOWER CLARKS SUMMIT |
Obtain portable, reusable extinguishing ashtrays for smokers and gum chewers from Toronto company, KippiPaks.
Convenient, odourless 'Kippi' extinguishes your butt in less than seven seconds!
Cigarette butt recycling happening nowLearn what New Jersey-based TerraCycle is doing to collect tobacco waste from around the world to turn into plastic pellets for industry. Earn dollars for your favourite charity or non-profit when this company gives you dollar credits for butts you return at free of charge. Canadian head office is located in Toronto.
Our media event on butt litter hits homeGet the full press package from Jan. 18, 2013. Great research, a real eye-opener.
Info puts you in the know, you know.Click on 'News Reel' below for interesting stories about tobacco and other litter.
In Our Opinion ... an unfiltered point of viewAn essential message is still missing from tobacco product packaging. While communicating the widely known health hazards of smoking, no attention at all is paid to the disposal of tobacco products.
Governments, the tobacco industry and users themselves have done a terrible job of addressing tobacco litter, an identified worldwide environmental hazard. There is no mandated message on cigarette packages concerning the correct disposal of this toxic product. A “Do Not Litter” message on all tobacco product packaging should be required as it is in Mexico, Sweden and Italy. This world culture of tolerating improper product disposal by smokers could change with the right blend of education with enforcement regarding smoking-related litter. Here in Ontario, Canada, we are encouraging government and industry to begin that dialogue and to do better than they have done. The makers of cigarettes should have to build into their pack the wondrous card-sized, paper and foil extinguishing ashtray called the KippiPak, giving smokers a method of disposal that doesn't involve flicking or dropping it on the ground. We don't view tobacco makers as "bad guys", but as change agents in the campaign against litter. Ultimately smokers themselves have to make the change and that's going to take a lot of learning. In North Carolina, public smoking banned in Orange County
The new law will allow smokers to puff freely in private homes and cars, tobacco shops, designated smoking areas and private clubs. The biggest objection was to applying the ban to sidewalks. Click below for full story. (November 27, 2012) Tobacco firm to challenge Scots' plain cigarette pack plan (April 8, 2013)
Tobacco giant JTI is preparing to challenge the Scottish government’s plain cigarette packets plans in an advertising campaign next week. It will reveal correspondence, obtained through Freedom of Information, from the Department of Health in which officials state there is no hard evidence to suggest the change will cut smoking levels. SNP health minister Michael Matheson announced last week that Scotland would be the first part of the UK to introduce plain packaging and insisted this was based on “available evidence”. Scottish Government officials say the Public Health Research Consortium has found the plans will reduce attractiveness and stop youngsters taking up the habit. The FOI correspondence, which has been seen by The Scotsman but cannot yet be published, will be part of an advertising campaign and dates from 2011. In December, Australia became the first country to use plain packaging for cigarettes. The tobacco firm says that the Scottish public should be made aware of the full facts. |
'Legacy' project launched to stop filter-flicking, cigarette butt litterers
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Legacy is a public health non-profit in Washington, D.C. Below, the group's Reuters news release from April 6, 2013 (below), titled "Billions Of Pieces Of Toxic Trash Are Leaching Deadly Chemicals Into The Environment Where We Live, Work, And Play" carries a warning.
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The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches people of all ages how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly, and is the most widely accepted outdoor ethics program used on public lands. Through targeted education, research and outreach, the Center ensures the long-term health of our natural world. In its simplest form, Leave No Trace is about making good decisions to protect the world around you - the world we all enjoy. Learn more
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Read the New York Times Take: "A Campaign Fights the Cigarette Butt, a Ubiquitous Pollutant" (April 10, 2013)
Recycling Earth's #1 Litter Source: Cigarette Butts (September 27, 2012)
Click on headline to read, this story yourolivebranch.org reprinted from 'Our Daily Green', ourdailygreenlife.blogspot.com
Click on headline to read, this story yourolivebranch.org reprinted from 'Our Daily Green', ourdailygreenlife.blogspot.com
Community takes 'can-do' attitude when it comes to ending tobacco litter
An empty coffee can with a hole drilled in the bottom of it, some spare wire and a little paint and you have yourself a Butt Can.
Put it in places where smokers pass and they can use it instead of your street or yard for their used cigarettes and related tobacco litter. The front says 'THE BUTT STOPS HERE'.
These cans were part of a community anti-litter campaign.
Put it in places where smokers pass and they can use it instead of your street or yard for their used cigarettes and related tobacco litter. The front says 'THE BUTT STOPS HERE'.
These cans were part of a community anti-litter campaign.
Tobacco-related news ...
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E-cigarettes could stub out tobacco bonds sooner than thought (June 24, 2014)
The paperwork has not caught up to the emerging popularity of new vapor products. Smoking visibility mapped for the first time (April 8, 2014)
Cigarette butts should not be an exception to littering (November 5, 2013)
Firefighters warning ahead of strike after litter torched (November 1, 2013)
Cigarette Litter Reduced in Downtown Green Bay (October 3, 2013)
“Having the police behind it, backing it and having that extra year of publicity, pushing it has definitely helped," merchant says Litter louts hit with fines (September 27, 2013)
Doncaster Council’s tough stance on littering and smoking offences has resulted in a further thirty prosecutions by magistrates. Butt litter campaign takes off across campus and Fredericksburg (September 18, 2013)
Study documents cigarette environmental hazards (September 10, 2013)
Cigarette litter bill reaches £200 mark (August 28, 2013)
No nonsense in Nottingham L.A. suburb uses humour to discourage smoking in the great outdoors (July 10, 2013)
Fewer butts littering train stations after Braintree’s appeal to smokers (June 30, 2013)
The number of cigarette butts dropped in train stations around the district has dropped by over 45 per cent following a recent campaign, 'Is Your Butt Worth GBP75?' Litter pair pay the price for dropping cigarette butts (June 3, 2013)
Smokers in Haringey offered reward for quitting (May 30, 2013)
Undercover cops patrol, looking for littering smokers to fine (April 4, 2013)
Ciggy litter hot spots targeted in Springvale (March 5, 2013)
Ridding Oahu beaches of ugly, toxic, cigarette butt litter (February 27, 2013)
Lazily discarded cigarette butts on Hawaii's sands are more than unsightly; they're also an environmental hazard. CigaretteLitter.org has published research demonstrating the harm that cigarette butts can cause to aquatic life because of the tobacco-related chemicals that leach out. An e-cigarette maker and a Foundation team up to tackle the unyielding dilemma of litter. Hey Cigarette Smokers, Maybe We Should Stop Flicking Our Butts? (February 14, 2013)
Pennsylvania plans cigarette litter prevention steps with industry (February 11, 2013)
'Gangnam Style' cigarettes to debut in Canada (January 31, 2013)
Craze made famous by Korean pop star, Psy, being used to market new cigarettes in Canada. City's malls Perth are now 'no smoking' (January 30, 2013)
Melbourne, Australia contemplates smoking ban in all public places. Boulder bans smoking on Pearl Street Mall (January 19,2013)
No smoking four blocks from Court House Singapore smokers still puffing at newly prohibited areas (January 18, 2013)
Commission holds public hearing on tobacco ban in public parks (January 13, 2013)
Ironwood, Michigan takes a good look at controlling butt litter and pollution. Butt deposit-return system proposed for the Empire State (January 10, 2013)
Fee would add 20 cents to each pack of smokes. According to Keep America Beautiful, littering costs the U.S. $11.5 billion every year, not counting indirect costs of littering, such as decreases in property values, commerce and tourism, as well as adverse health effects. Hopkinsville, Kentucky Sets Sights on Cigarette Butt Litter (December 31, 2012)
Big cigs help lay down litter laws in Leicestershire (December 26, 2012)
"Using public events, education and enforcement, we hope to see reductions in incidents and, importantly, an increased awareness of the penalties of committing these offences.” Last year, the campaign was crowned Keep Britain Tidy's Innovation and People's Choice award winners. Mind your butts in Port Stephens, Australia or cop a $750 fine (December 24, 2012)
84 per cent back tough action on cigarette litter. See poll. £330 up in smoke: Dropping cigarette butt proves costly (November 29, 2012)
Town of Oldham cracks down on littering Reynolds subsidiary funding cigarette recycling (November 14, 2012)
American tobacco maker takes a baby step ahead of others. Hot Springs commission works to fight cigarette litter (October 24, 2012)
Angry Folkestone father slams council's litter priorities as 'crazy' (September 26, 2012)
Man in UK gets a fine for flicking cigarette butt after clearing rubbish out of alleyway for free. Graphic cigarette warnings barred by U.S. court (Aug. 24, 2012)
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The Canadian Scene ...
Tobacco Industry in Canada: Health Canada report provides all the data on the industry behind smoking and the litter it creates
How long does it take for cigarette filter tips to decompose?
The core of most cigarette filters -- the part that looks like white cotton, is actually a form of plastic called cellulose acetate. By itself, cellulose acetate is very slow to degrade in our environment. Depending on the conditions of the area the cigarette butt is discarded in, it can take 18 months to 10 years for a cigarette filter to decompose. Used cigarette filters are full of toxins and leach into the ground and waterways, damaging living organisms that are in contact with them. Most filters are discarded with traces of tobacco still attached to them, which pollutes the environment with nicotine. Source: Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2012