Mazzitelli, Abrehart 1

Robinson School

Everyday Sea
Cigarette Butts Environmental Issue

Natalia Mazzitelli
Emily Abrehart
Environmental Systems and Society
Felix Torres
December 14, 2016

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Table of Contents
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VI.

Our position on cigarette butt littering

The environmental value system that we base our organization around
History of the cigarette littering
Causes of the problem
Effects of littering
Who opposes us?

Cigarette butt litter is a major problem in our environment. When direct littering occurs in
our beaches, animals and even humans are affected drastically. Cigarettes contain toxins that
collect on the filter and are washed away in our waterways and in the ocean. Many do not see

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this as a problem right now, but every year over 4.3 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year.
This has become the number one problem to the wellness of our planet, and becoming educated
and aware is the first step.
Everyday Sea is a company that defends marine life against the harm of cigarette butts.
We encourage people across different sides of the world to take a stand and become more
responsible with their beaches, and educate smokers on the effect their actions can have. Many
people who do smoke are not aware of the damage one small cigarette can have on animals that
live in the ocean or on the water they are drinking. Every littered cigarette butt can take
anywhere from two to twenty-five years to biodegrade. (Lansing Community College par.3)
Becoming aware of such an environmental issue is one of the ways to help stop this from being a
problem and can help spread awareness for more people to become aware and act as well.
Our organization, Everyday Sea, is a biocentric organization; meaning that we fight for
both human health and the environment. The effects of cigarette litter affect both areas. Although
cigarette litter occurs in all places, the majority of the litter eventually ends up in the ocean as it
can be very easily carried through the sewers or down the streets. They are very easily
transported by rainwater and wind, leading them to the ocean where they cause many problems.
Cigarettes contain more than 165 chemicals that can be exposed to marine life and humans.
Many of these chemicals if ingested by humans can cause vomiting, brain damage, skin tumours,
liver/kidney damage, paralysis and many others. The plastics that are consumed by the marine
life block their digestion and eventually lead to death. Cigarette butt litter really affects both
areas of life, human life and marine life. Our organization advocates for both areas of life
because cigarettes harm everyone and that needs to change.

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Cigarettes were first invented by a man named Washington Duke in 1865 but it wasnt
until 1881 that cigarette smoking became popular and widespread. In 1881, James Bonsack
invented a cigarette-making machine which led to the spread of cigarette smoking. In the 1950s,
a cellulose-acetate filter was added to the end of the cigarette (also known as the butt). This filter
was supposed to reduce the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled when smoking; but instead it has
increased the amount of scientific evidence that shows that cigarettes causes lung cancer and
other very serious diseases. The problem of cigarette butt littering has been gradually increasing
since the invention of the cigarette-making machine. More and more people every year are
beginning to smoke, increasing the amount of cigarette butts that are littered.
There are many different parties and organizations that are trying to raise awareness of
what cigarette butt littering does to our environment. When you google cigarette butt littering,
there are many websites that have been created by students and actual organizations that
advocate for this cause. From our research, weve seen that people are petitioning to have more
trash bins added around the beach so that people have somewhere to throw their used cigarettes
and other trash. Many beach clean ups have also been organized to help clean up the current
pollution on our beaches.
In the United States, Illnois has created a new law that fines anybody who is caught
cigarette butt littering. This fine can be up to $1,500. They now consider cigarette flicking or
trash flicking to be a felony that needs to be fined. In many states, it is illegal to toss cigarettes
out of the car window. The punishment in California for throwing a cigarette or any lit object out
of the car window is a fine of $500 and 8 hours of community service; picking up litter and
cleaning graffiti. There are many laws and rules that have been set throughout the world that
attempt to reduce the amount of cigarette butt litter that enters our oceans. Cigarette butt litter

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really effects all aspects of life in the world so we need to try our best to keep the amount of litter
to a minimum.
The problem begins with smokers who do not dispose of their cigarette butts in the
proper places, like a trash can, and end up throwing their trash in the sand which is later taken
into the ocean. This is because the wind blows the cigarette butts into the shore or the waves take
them into the ocean because of the currents. It becomes a bigger issue when smokers are not
made aware of the dangers they are causing, but in most cases, when they are made aware, they
cooperate and throw the cigarette butts in the trash can. Dropped cigarette butts have been the
cause of house and apartment fires, as well as some of the largest and most destructive forest
fires. Fires caused by cigarette butts claim the lives of about 1,000 people and injure about 3,000
people each year. (Lansing Community College par. 4). One of the most dangerous effects of
this is that any marine life, animal, or toddler who mistakes a cigarette for food can become very
ill and may die. Cigarette butts release chemicals like cadmium, lead and arsenic into our marine
environment after an hour of contact with water. These toxic chemicals are soluble in water and
contaminate our waterways and kill much of our marine life. Apart from these chemicals
polluting our oceans, which is absorbed by plankton and plant life, cigarette butts are consumed
by other sea animals, leaving them to die or to be consumed by other animals, poisoning others.
Introducing toxic chemicals, like the ones found in cigarettes, can disrupt systems and food
chains inside the ocean because there is a change in different populations and the source of food
begins to decrease and more and more animals start to become extinct.

Fortunately, trying to reduce the amount of litter there is on our beaches shouldnt be that
difficult. Everyone advocates for cleaner beaches to help our marine life and our lives. Nobody

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opposes the actions of trying to save our oceans. As long as we are all on the same side (the side
of wanting our marine life to survive as well as ourselves), we can work together to reduce the
amount of litter that pollutes our oceans and our beaches.
Overall, ever since cigarettes became popular, they have become one of the main causes
of illness in humans and marine life. Not only do they cause illnesses but they also cause large
fires and release chemicals into our oceans and air. This problem could also eventually lead to
the downfall of marine life populations due to the consumption of plastics and the chemicals
spread from cigarettes. By raising awareness of this growing problem, we can attempt to reduce
illness caused by cigarette butt littering. It is not hard to advocate for this problem, it simply
requires a little effort to recognize this growing problem and speak up about it.

Works Cited

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"Cigarette Butt Litter Fact Sheet." Lansing Community College. N.p., 2016. Web.
"Our Waters: Smokings Impact on Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, and Bays." Quit Day. QuitDay.org,
2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
Howard, B. C. (2015, May 5). Watch: Cigarette Butts, World's #1 Litter, Recycled as Park
Benches. Retrieved December 12, 2016, from
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150504-cigarette-butt-litter-recycling-environment/
Beachapedia. (2016, July 12). Retrieved December 12, 2016, from
http://www.beachapedia.org/Cigarette_Butt_Litter
Novotny, T. E., Lum, K., Smith, E., Wang, V., & Barnes, R. (2009, May 20). Cigarettes Butts and
the Case for an Environmental Policy on Hazardous Cigarette Waste. Retrieved December 13,
2016, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2697937/
Healton1, C. G., Cummings2, K. M., & O'Connor2, R. J. (n.d.). Butt really? The environmental
impact of cigarettes. Retrieved December 13, 2016, from
http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/Suppl_1/i1.full

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