RESPONDING WITH SOLUTIONS


OUR PURPOSE
We are pursuing a lasting solution to cigarette butt litter!
Cigarette butts have been found to make up over 33% of all litter(1). Modest estimates have put the number of cigarette butts found as litter in the environment per year is more than 5.6 trillion(2). A cigarette filter is designed to trap toxic chemicals such as tar, arsenic, cadmium and lead before reaching a smoker's lungs(3). It takes only one hour for these chemicals in a cigarette butt to pollute 7L of water, with toxicity levels rising and lasting for an entire week! This toxicity can kill bacteria, plants, and even animals such as fish and birds when in contact with the local habitat(4). It is uncommon knowledge that cigarette butts are composed of cellulose acetate, a type of plastic which can take years to break down and contributes to the growing accumulation of microplastics in the environment.
Help us to rethink, and restore our ecosystems by spreading the word!
Like all fibrous plastics, cellulose acetate breaks down into microfibres over time, giving the illusion of biodegradability. Similar to micro beads, these microfibres accumulate and become toxic to the environment around them. The habitat is affected step by step; small animal eats microfibres by mistake, larger animal eats small animal, and so on. Cellulose acetate was originally created to supplement natural fibers in clothing, in the likeness of cotton cellulose. When cigarettes were first given filters, cotton cellulose was used - yet due to the lower cost and higher efficiency of cellulose acetate, the cotton filter was eventually replaced.
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Cigarette litter became a widespread environmental problem when smoking was pushed outdoors and banned in public spaces.
References
(1) Novotny, Thomas E., et al. "Cigarettes butts and the case for an environmental policy on hazardous cigarette waste." International journal of environmental research and public health 6.5 (2009): 1691-1705.
(2) Healton, Cheryl G., et al. "Butt really? The environmental impact of cigarettes." Tobacco Control 20.Suppl 1 (2011): i1-i1.
(3) Moerman, J. W., and G. E. Potts. "Analysis of metals leached from smoked cigarette litter." Tobacco Control 20.Suppl 1 (2011): i30-i35.
(4) Slaughter, Elli, et al. "Toxicity of cigarette butts, and their chemical components, to marine and freshwater fish." Tobacco control 20.Suppl 1 (2011): i25-i29.

