Did you know? Cigarette smoke contains up to 4, 000 chemicals.

A cigarette butt can smoulder for up to three hours causing a grass fire or even a bushfire. . What are cigarettes filters made of? There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding cigarette butt litter. The biggest myth is that cigarette filters are biodegradable. In fact, cigarette butts are not biodegradable in the sense that most people think of the word. The acetate (plastic) filters can take many years to decompose. Smokers may not realize that their actions have such a lasting, negative impact on the environment. 95% of cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate (a plastic), and the balance are made from papers and rayon. The cellulose acetate tow fibers are thinner than sewing thread, white, and packed tightly together to create a filter; they can look like cotton. Cigarette filters or butts are designed to trap tar and other toxic chemicals before they reach the smokers lungs. The filters are made from cellulose acetate (a material similar to rayon) and are coated with paper. Each butt contains the remnants of tobacco, paper and a filter. The residue in the butts contains toxic, soluble chemicals. These chemicals are deadly and add to the existing cocktail of environmental pollution

What happens after that butt gets casually flicked onto the street, nature trail, or beach? Typically wind and rain carry the cigarette into the water supply, where the toxic chemicals the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many aquatic lifeforms. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with several trillion butts littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up!

Contents of Cigarette Smoke: When smoked, the tobacco and additives in a cigarette undergo complex chemical processes to form smoke that contains more than 4000 chemicals, including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, nicotine, ammonia, arsenic and vinyl chloride (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1989). Forty-three constituents of tobacco smoke are known carcinogens including nitrosamines, quinoline, benzpyrene, cadmium, ammonia, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and hydrogen sulfide (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1989, and other sources). Cigarette butts and the environment Most people are aware of the health risks involved in smoking, but whether they realise that cigarettes are also bad for the environment ? Environmental impacts of discarded butts: Cigarette butts have become one of our most important litter issues. The problem has increased in recent years with government legislation for smoking restrictions in public buildings and restaurants forcing smokers outside, where butts are often littered. If a butt is simply dropped, it can smoulder for up to 3 hours. Cigarette smoke contains up to 4,000 chemicals so each second the butt is left alight, dangerous toxins are released into the environment. Flicked butts can cause fires. When thrown from a motor vehicle into dried grass butts can start a grassfire or even a bushfire.

So what can I do? Always dispose of cigarette butts responsibly. You can do this by using a Go Green Pocket Ashtray. The small, green ashtray fits easily into a pocket or handbag. The ashtrays are fire resistant and re-usable and can be purchased from any Coles or Bi-Lo supermarket. You can also help to educate those around you such as friends, family and coworkers about the impacts of littering cigarette butts and encourage them not to litter.

They are biodegradable. NO THEY ARE NOT! Different groups have done different studies and their results differ, with some people saying cigarettes decompose in a year, some saying it takes twelve years, and others saying they never decompose at all (the filters are made of a type of acetate that never fully breaks down). That is not what people mean when they use the word biodegradable. Rather than get into a scientific argument, we ask smokers who litter to use common sense. Ask yourself if the cigarette you throw down is going to disappear anytime soon. Do your own experiment. Put a cigarrete in an outdoor planter (use a string or pin to secure it), and see how long it stays there. We guarantee it will be a long term experiment! However long you finally decide it takes for a cigarette to decompose, ask

yourself if you would like all such "biodegradable" items to be thrown on the ground, such as cardboard containers, newspapers, kleenex, paper grocery bags, etc. It wouldn't be pretty. Cigarettes Butt LitterQuestions and Answers

1. Why are people careless in discarding cigarette butts but not other forms of trash? Smokers incorrectly believe that cigarette filters are made of biodegradable cotton. In fact, cigarette filters are made of plastic cellulose acetate, and take many years to decompose. 2. What should be done to prevent the littering of cigarette butts? Studies show that more ashtrays will only help a little. The only way we will prevent this form of litter is through changing people's behavior through education , peer pressure or enforcement of anti-litter laws. If smokers and nonsmokers knew that cigarette butts contain toxins, and they cost us millions of dollars in fire-fighting and cleanup, we as a society would not tolerate this littering behavior 6. What are the most common misconceptions about cigarette butts? Too many people believe that cigarette butts are too small to be litter, or that they are cotton, and will quickly disappear. 7. Is the problem getting better or worse? Some studies indicated that since we have enacted indoor smoking bans, more cigarette butts are being tossed directly into the environment, instead of finding their way into landfills with other forms of solid waste. 8. Shouldn't we ban smoking in some areas? This is a litter issue, not a smoking issue! Fast-food related litter (food wrappers, straws, plastic forks, bottles, cups, cans, napkins, etc.) comprise the largest group of litter, but banning fast-food restaurants and convenience stores is not the answer. We must change the behavior of people who litter. EDUCATION is the answer..

3. Have a "no smoking" policy or allow smoking only in designated areas.

More and more public beaches, parks, open-air shopping malls, and college campus are trying to concentrate cigarette butt litter by requiring smokers to use only designated areas. These areas should have ash receptacles, lighting, seating, and be convenient. Often the use of these designated smoking areas are promoted for public health reasons (secondhand smoke) and fire prevention, as well as a litter-control mechanism. This approach is sometimes attacked because it restricts smokers' rights (after all, smoking is a legal activity), and it is trying to address one behavior (littering) by restricting another behavior (smoking). 4. Provide ash receptacles at all entry/exit points of buildings, at bus stops, and other areas where people frequently need to discard their cigarettes.

5. Distribute pocket ashtrays. 6. Enforce litter laws.