The effects of cigarette butts on our beaches.
You smoke a cigarette and toss it out the window, or push it into the beach sand. Further, than that, you don’t give it another thought.
Well, the reality is more than 5.5-triliion cigarettes are produced each year around the world and end up polluting the planet.
Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate that can take a decade or longer to break down under ultraviolet light. These toxic filters contain plastic that does not biodegrade but breaks down into smaller bits that are indigested by marine life.
Scientists have reported finding the remains of cigarettes in seabirds and sea turtles. So you thought that plastic straws were a problem, well think again; cigarette butts are the new villain on the scene.
Please discard your cigarette buds in a specially designed portable ashtray and dispose of them safely, or alternatively, in an ideal world, give up smoking.
Of course, environmental health is ultimately human health and eventually our polluting will come back to bite us; it’s just a matter of getting everyone to see it that way.
Save our beaches today.
Please discard your butts in a special portable ashtray or into dustbins along the beach front.
With thanks to
