Should smoking be banned on our beaches?

[wrobert]

I still don't understand why someone has not come up with a self-destructing cigarette filter... they can do it with packing peanuts, why not with butt stubs? Not that it would solve the problem of people littering, but I don't have much faith in people changing their ways for this issue... people who toss butts on the ground/out the window are aware they are littering, but obviously don't care all that much. The possibility of random enforcement of litter laws that already exist hasn't changed their habits.

Maybe it has changed lately. But about 15 or so years ago I spent about every weekend with ShallowsFuzz and another friend riding the roads and watching laws get enforced. While seeing multiple acts of littering, I only saw it enforced one time and that was more because the guy committed POP than anything else.

 

[ameliaj]

I really hate to see smokers throw their butts on the ground, anywhere. However, banning smoking isn't the solution, IMO. Perhaps if we are going to ban something, we should be banning people who litter. If that is too strong, perhaps we should ban littering, rather than the people who litter. Beer drinkers litter on the beach, kids litter on the beach, parents litter on the beach, smokers litter on the beach, walkers litter on the beach, etc. Littering isn't restricted to smokers. I find way more cheap, plastic toys on the beach than cigarette butts, but I am not in favor of banning toys on the beach. I am for people cleaning up after themselves, and being aware of potential litter, before it becomes litter.

I didn't vote, b/c there wasn't an answer for me. I would vote, "no," but I think that even though it is a "free country," we are not free to poop on other people, and Mother Nature. We should be free to smoke in open spaces, but not free to litter.

Well said, SJ. I don't smoke, but Mr. A does, but, thanks to the rule police (aka my 7th grader), he always puts his ciggy butts in a half empty water bottle and takes them away from the beach for proper disposal. It's not that hard. Littering is nothing but a sign of extreme laziness and disregard for others.

 

[Smiling JOe]

The dis-solvable filter sounds great, but probably wouldn't allow for the tiny fiberglass needles from the filters to prick the lining of the lungs.

 

[jenjenbarnes]

I voted no. I am a smoker, but am very concious of my habit. I do not smoke near others and my butts go into some kind of container for disposal. I do understand the concern, as I see many smokers who are not concerned with where their smoke goes or the butts. As stated above, littering is a much larger problem than smokers alone and I'm not sure what the answer is.

 

[John R]

Maybe it has changed lately. But about 15 or so years ago I spent about every weekend with ShallowsFuzz and another friend riding the roads and watching laws get enforced. While seeing multiple acts of littering, I only saw it enforced one time and that was more because the guy committed POP than anything else.

that's sucky. I was behind a sheriff's car on 20 going east towards Ebro and both SO's were smoking, and both tossed their butts out the window. I called it in to dispatch and was handed off to a Lt. and never heard anything about it.

as with LEO DUI, they should be held to the same or higher standard as civilians.

 

[Bobby J]

I agree with SJ. I surely don't feel we need more laws but I felt that way when they banned horses, dogs (without permits), bonfires, etc. I was walking by the lake in Grayton the day I posted this with my son and could not believe all the butts in the lake. Very sad.

Archive for Wednesday, June 18, 2008


How the butts stack up



By Sources Us Centers For Disease Control, Prevention, Keep America Beautiful, New Scientist Magazine, and Alliance For The Great Lakes
June 18, 2008

4.5 trillion:

Number of cigarette butts that wind up as litter worldwide per year

1.35 trillion:

Cigarette filters manufactured annually for the major brands of U.S. cigarettes

1.69 billion:

Pounds of butts that wind up as litter worldwide per year

12,000:

Plastic-based fibers in a cigarette filter

5,654:

Number of butts volunteers cleaned up from North Avenue Beach in three hours in September 2006

200:

Number of butts that, taken as a whole, contain enough nicotine to kill an adult

30 :

Percentage of waste in U.S. shorelines, waterways and on land made up by cigarette butts

10-15 years:

Length of time it takes a filter?s component fibers to break down; they do not biodegrade

2 months:

Length of time it takes a new, food-starch-based cigarette butt to biodegrade

1:

Rank of cigarette butts in list of worst litter problems in the U.S.

 

[John R]

1.69 billion:

Pounds of butts that wind up as litter worldwide per year

 

[scooterbug44]

I certainly have no love for cigarette smoking and HATE litter, but IMO this is unnecessary.

We don't need to ban smoking, we need to enforce the littering laws we already have if cigarette butts are a litter problem. To be fair, I don't notice that cigarette butts make up a large percentage of the trash on our beaches - I think that general litter, discarded toys, exploded fireworks, items left for days, and large holes are a bigger issue.

Another redundant law we don't enforce is just legal litter!

Now, the number of LIT cigarettes I see tossed out windows as I drive in Sowal - much bigger problem! :angry:

 

[ThirtyAGal]

I voted no. I am a smoker, but I NEVER litter. I carry a plastic ashtray with a lid on it whenever I am outdoors (beach included) and I empty it in a trash receptacle. I also collect butts that are around me on the beach (that I didn't leave there) and put them in my ashtray to dispose of. I hate litter of any kind, and I don't do it. I do, however, love litters of puppies!

 

[Matt J]

I'm a smoker and I always dispose of my butts properly. Banning smoking on the beach is just another useless law that our local LEO's won't enforce.

Although I am quitting as of January 1, watch out.