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Smoking and the Environment

Smoking pollutes the air but do you know what it also does to our planet?

  • It is estimated that it takes anywhere from 18 months to 10 years for one cigarette butt to biodegrade (breakdown). 1 One expert has also estimated that the butts may never biodegrade. 2  The filters used to make cigarettes are a type of plastic.  Worldwide 2.1 billion pounds of garbage each year is generated from cigarette filters alone! 3
  • On the sidewalk, in the grass, in the gutter, cigarette butts are everywhere.  They get swept into storm drains and end up in our lakes & rivers.  Many butts cause harm to wildlife when they are eaten. 4  About 2 million butts were collected worldwide in the 2006 International Coastal Cleanup. 5
  • Many trees are killed to make cigarettes.  On average 5% of tree loss in developing countries is related to tobacco. It was estimated that between 1990 and 1995 tobacco farming resulted in the destruction of 200 000 hectares of forest/woodlands for each of those years.  There has been little research into the impact of tobacco on the global environment. 6
  • The World Health organization estimates that 10 to 20 million people could be fed by food crops instead of growing tobacco. 7Tobacco is grown in 120 countries compared with coffee in only 59 countries. 8

References:

  1. www.longwood.edu/cleanva/cigarettelitterhome.html accessed Aug. 28, 2007
  2. New Scientist 10/8/2005, vol. 188 issue 2520, p. 6 accessed online Aug. 28, 2007
  3. www.longwood.edu/cleanva/cigarettelitterhome.html Aug. 28, 2007
  4. Finogle, K. 2002. Marine debris: A visible threat to our waterways and shorelines. Wildlife Journal.
  5. Ocean Conservancy. International Coastal Cleanup 2006 Report.
  6. Geist, J. 1999. Global assessment of deforestation related to tobacco farming. Tobacco Control
  7. www.who.int/mdg/cross_cutting/tobacco/en/index.html accessed Aug. 7, 2007
  8. Geist, J. 1999. Global assessment of deforestation related to tobacco farming. Tobacco Control.