Cigarette Litter Remains A Beach Bane

Majority Of Shoreline Trash From Cigarette Butts, Says Conservation Group

(AP)  Cigarettes are still the biggest trash problem on the world's beaches, according to a group that picks them up.

Of the 7.7 million pieces of debris collected in 68 countries during an annual beach cleanup day last September, cigarettes and cigarette butts accounted for roughly 1.9 million, The Ocean Conservancy reported Thursday. It's the sixth consecutive year cigarettes have topped the list.

More than 350,000 volunteers removed about 7 million pounds of debris from 34,500 miles of coastlines and waterways, and ocean, river and lake bottoms. Coming in second at about 768,000 items were food wrappers and containers, which can be extremely dangerous to wildlife.

"A plastic sandwich bag floating in the ocean may look like a jellyfish, a favorite food of sea turtles," said Sonya Besteiro, the cleanup project manager. "If a sea turtle ingests a plastic bag it may feel full and stop eating, which results in starvation. Or the bag could block the animal's digestive system and cause death."

During the 2006 cleanup, volunteers found 1,074 animals entangled in debris such as fishing line and nets. Only one of those animals survived — a female seal found in Hobe Sound.

Discarded fishing gear and plastic debris kill more than 1 million sea birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles each year, the conservancy said.

Last week, an endangered Hawaiian monk seal drowned after becoming entangled in a fishing net off Oahu. In October, Hawaiian wildlife officials found a 5-month-old monk seal dead in another net.

"With only 1,200 monk seals left, this is such a terrible loss," said Christine Woolaway, who coordinates the coastal cleanup in Hawaii, the state with the most threatened and endangered species at 329.

Since 1986, more than 6.5 million volunteers in the project have removed 116 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways in 127 countries, according to the Washington-based environmental advocacy group.

The United States had the most participants in 2006, according to the report, with 182,100 people cleaning some 4.1 million pounds of trash from 10,550 miles of waterways and coastlines.

Canada saw the second-best participation with about 26,550 people, followed by the Philippines where some 25,500 volunteers helped out.

California and Florida saw the most participation in the U.S., with about 56,000 and 28,000 people participating, respectively. The two states collectively removed about 1.5 million pounds of debris over 4,600 miles of shorelines and waterways.

This year's cleanup is set for Sept. 15.

[jshmks]

Cigarettes are disgusting, and kill people. Legalize marijuana and you won't see any cigarette butts.

[rushman71]

"It's the sixth consecutive year cigarettes have topped the list."

Hmmmm... I wonder why? If it wasn't for all of these health conscious Nazi freaks who believe in this BS about second-hand smoke crapola, more people would be inside using ash trays. There wouldn't be as much "trash" on the beaches.

[ctrumb]

Oh yeah, people would really use ashtrays in a bldg like they do in their cars. What a joke. Between the butts and the garbage, people are basically selfish slobs. Of course, we can sell the Brooklyn bridge or anything else to those who insist filthy cigarettes and their toxic smoke are 'healthy'.

Wonder who they paid to count all those pieces of tash

[rf35]

It really kills me to see people toss their cigarette butts out the window or just drop them wherever they might fall. As a smoker, the reason these types of people upset me is because it give all of us a bad rap. I always use the ashtray in my car. If I'm outside and con't find an ashtray or trash can anywhere, I'll extinguish the cigarette, roll the unburned tobacco out of the butt and pocket it until I CAN find an proper place to dispose of it.

I think Rushman71 is right. If there were more indoor smoking areas today there would be less people tossing butts outside. While I do beleive people have the right not to have endure smoke-filled environments, I also think smokers should have more options. A seperate room or area with a good vent system is all it would take. Most larger public buildings (and many outdoor areas)in Japan have smoking boothes...free-standing oval or rectangluar tables with water-filled ashtrays and built-in air cleaners. They are set up so you can stand near one, smoke and dispose of the butts easily. Many even have attached lighters (especially in the airports). They keep the air clean and allow smokers to enjoy their cigarettes without bothering everyone else in the area.

[afmca]

Let's be real. Smokers are slobs for the most part. I can't count the number of times I am driving and another driver uses the highway as his/her ashtray. They have ashtrays in the car, but they would rather litter the street then dirty up their car. They feel it is their right to increase medical costs with their smoking related diseases, shorten other people's lives with their second hand smoke, and use the world as their ashtray. I would add an additional tax to all cigarettes to help pay for the non-smoke pollution they produce.

To stop it all I would ban cigarettes altogether. Tabacco executives are no better than murderers. They know they sell a product that kills and they are continuously trying to find new ways to addict our children. At least with drug dealers we know their goal.

[stevex47]

Cigarettes and their users are disgusting. They stand right outside doors, so everyone enetering and exiting, now is part of their disgusting habits. And, they throw their butts out of car windows to pollute the invironment...if you wanted it so bad, why throw it out the window?

[actornaught]

This is another example of how smokers can't control their addiction, and are asking to have smoking outlawed entirely. Butts are all along the streets and in some of the dumbest places out in public.

Keep it up, smokers, it'll hasten the total restriction of tobacco.

[longntall]

Doesn't anyone care about the Millions of sea birds and over 100,000 marine animals killed by all the other kinds of trash? Focusing on Cigarrette butts sounds like a bunch of Bratty Baby Boomers trying to avoid the real issue.

[rf35]

Sure folks, let's totally ban smoking. But don't you dare start whining when the governments make up for their lost tax revenue by increasing the tax on alcohol!

[actornaught]

yep, let's totally ban smoking. only your hate radio imaginary straw man give's a rat's behind about spare change sin taxes.

[michellem99-2009]

It means smokers this..yer don't toss yer butts here and there. It is nasty. I will not pick them up.Ye flipped them..yer pick them up that plain. If it means toting a baby food bottle to butt them then yer..do it. Yer do the right thing..butt them and thow the butted gigerette/*** if Brit in the trash bin. I hate yer being careless as yer toss a burning cig on the ground. Pick it up as yer smoked it.

[longntall]

Yes, that's it: stay focused on the trivial and the fact that our automobiles and tossaway society are wreaking environmental havoc will just dissappear. People enjoy bossing each other around way more than doing something constructive.

[audainr]

Cigarette Litter - An unseen environmental danger.

I would like to draw attention to a problem which is largely forgotten.
Visit http://www.buttless.org for more information on how to sponsor a local or regional campaign today. Buttless products are the number 1 choice for governments and Businesses around the world.
Government and environmental agencies worldwide are spending millions of tax dollars tackling a problem that until recently has been largely unnoticed.

Cigarette litter has impacted on our environment to such an extent that it has become a focal point for top level governmental discussions worldwide.
Visual aids used to educate smokers about the harmful effects of their carelessness are easy enough, but proving to be ineffective. Innocently perhaps, smokers are generally unaware of the damage their littering causes the environmet.

Many Government and business organisations in Australia, USA, United Kingdom and further afield have put their corporate name and branding to support local and national anti-cigarette litter campaigns using ButtLess Personal Ashtrays.
Worldwide indoor smoking bans, whilst valid and necessary have had the counter effect of forcing millions of smokers to smoke outside. With this comes unsightly, unpleasant and unhealthy littering, as the butts will generally be cast off wherever they have finished their cigarette.

The Number one choice for city officials around the world the ButtLess Personal Ashtray has a depressed button designed to ensure it can never be opened accidentally and is finished in a range of attractive colours making them practical, attractive and safe to use. It is these features plus the excellent advertising and promotion space on the unit that has seen customers keep returning and working together with us to help improve their local environment.

UK Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
USA Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]