Cigarette Butts

[lusciousnichols.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure why I'm even posting this, perhaps it's just to vent or maybe, just maybe, someone has an idea?

I think we live in the coolest Square there is, and I'm really proud of it. But it makes me incredibly sad to see thousands of cigarette butts littered all over Davis Square. And to me, it's disgusting. It smacks of trashy, ill mannered and anti-green. And I don't need to go into the reasons why it hurts the environment, right?!

I read recently that 19% of Massachusetts smokes, which is better than the national average of about 25%.  I know this can't be true, but it seems like all 19% are doing their smoking in Davis Square. And I've never, not even *once*, watched a smoker dispose of their cigarette butt anywhere but on the ground. Smokers throws their butts to the ground, wherever they are, and whenever they like. Why is that okay? I guess I don't see this as any different from regular trash. Litter is litter.

I'm expecting the backward good old fashioned 'people-have-been-doing-this-forever-so-just-get-over-it' responses, but if we really were an unprogressive people, there would still be smoking indoors in public places and children would still be chewing lead paint off of window sills.

I'm not looking to denigrate smokers, I'm looking for solutions. Does anyone have any ideas to alleviate the litter?

Comments

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but cigarette butt litter has been bothering me for years. It's like for whatever reason (probably because all of us non-smokers made them all go outside) they get a free pass to throw their butts wherever they please. And most of these people would never dream of, say, thowing an empty pop can down onto the street. It's like smoking detrius isn't "litter" for some reason.

What's really sad is you see these guys downtown, outside all the big buildings, and basically their entire job is to go around with a broom and dustpan and sweep up all the cigarette butts. How sad is that? The smokers are so lazy with their litter that building management employs people to clean up after them.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

It's like for whatever reason (probably because all of us non-smokers made them all go outside) they get a free pass to throw their butts wherever they please.

I don't know that it's so new - butts were certainly ubiquitous on the ground when I was a little kid, back in the 70s when smoking was common. You know, the age where I picked up whatever garbage was lying around. I still cringe when I remember picking apart used cigarette butts to play with the fuzzy filter inside.

[ifotismeni]

it might have been especially bad last few nights because of the sox games. butt litter really bugs me too, especially since there are butt bins outside of the joshua tree for example and nobody seems to use them.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Welcome to one of the downsides of living near a college campus and a lot of bars. And for the record, the butt problem? Not nearly as bad as you seem to think. Where I went to college, there was a location called "the Ashtray" because all the freshmen smoked there and none of them got rid of their butts.

Smokers can't toss their butts in the trash because that would cause trash fires, so they really don't have much choice except to toss them on the concrete. If you'd like to cut down on the litter, the best thing to do would be to get a bunch of specially designed butt-disposal type devices. There's one in front of the T-stop, actually. I have no idea what they're called, but I'm sure the city, which I doubt takes any joy from cleaning the things up, wouldn't mind putting a few in.

[cutieperson]

uh, i've seen plenty of smokers put out their lit butts on the concrete, or the bottom of a shoe, or wherever and *then* throw them out.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

There are other options. My office building has these weird butt disposal things basically shaped like a gourd. Since the only thing that fits in them is cigarettes, that's all that goes in. I think they have sand in the bottom.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

when i was young and my mom smoked, she carried around a little insulated purse thing for her butts and she wouldn't have dreamed of dropping one on the ground. I haven't seen anything like this in decades.

I can see how people might be uncomfortable about dropping a hot butt in the trash (and since smoking is verboten so many places, there are fewer safe places to throw them), but I so often see people littering regular trash, too (lottery tickets, napkins, etc.) I've just come to the conclusion that some people are selfish slobs.

As for what to do? I don't know. Greater public education campaigns like they had years back? Signs? More peer pressure?

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

Pretty much everyone in Singapore who smokes carries one, mostly because the fine for littering/tossing butts on the ground is really severe. But yeah, I haven't seen them in the States all that often.

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

My aunt recently went to England and she got a kick out of all the different signage they have there that we don't have here so she took lots of pictures of this. One of the pictures she took was of these signs on trash cans that say:

"Stub it and bin it."

and then it goes on to say what the fine is for not disposing of your butts in the trash.

I imagine it would be a lot of work to pass a law that associates an actual fine with leaving your cigarette butt on the ground but maybe some Davis Square group could work to get signs placed on trash cans that just say something like "stub it and bin it."

This could be a good thing to raise with the DARBI (Davis Area Resident Business Initiative) group because they specifically have a "Beautification Committee."

DARBI can be reached here:
http://yourdavissquare.com/contact.html

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

I haven't noticed it as much, but I do in general agree with throwing cigarette butts somewhere other than on the ground. Trash in general, really. I would certainly think a movement to put in more cigarette specific trash receptacles around the square would gain support from the community around here.

[mrf-arch.livejournal.com]

A larger number of dedicated cigaretter receptacles might help, but I'm not completely convinced, since I've seen people stand right next to one of those things and still toss the butt on the sidewalk or into the street.

I think it's worse in the last few years in part because we're getting to the point where there aren't any indoor locations where people are allowed to smoke.

A public awareness or beautification campaign (something DARBI could certainly have a hand in) sounds like a good idea too, but you'd have to cover a lot of ground - I suspect a lot of the folks smoking in Davis on a given Saturday night don't actually live in the area.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

What I hate are the asshats who toss butts out of their car/suv. Drives me friggin crazy.

On I-93

[bds.livejournal.com]

One bounced off the hood of my car, over my head, toward the open back seat of my convertible. I couldn't see if it hit (it hadn't). I was torn between chasing him down and hurling imaginary fireballs back at his SUV, or pulling off to see if a butt was burning into the seat. How is that for sparking one's road rage?

[dearsweetbriar.livejournal.com]

I completely agree that it's disgusting. My boyfriend smokes (something I also find disgusting :( I really wish he would quit, and he wants to but that's beside the point) *he* always finds a trash can. I've even seen him stick his butts in his pockets until he can reach a trash can.

Often, coffee cans or the cigarette butt collectors outside of restaurants and bars and places where you normally see smokers can have a big impact. Also, store owners shouldn't have to clean up the butts, but it would help. I know it's not our responsibility: it should be the smokers' responsibility -- but usually if there aren't too many butts on the floor, it's a discouragement for future smokers to follow suit.

Even though I wish no one would smoke, I at least wish more smokers were as thoughtful as my boyfriend. And just because this is already a rant: Why is it that the people who cause the most inconvenience to other people are the most righteous assholes when it comes to their litter and their *rights* to make MY oxygen filthy? This is just a big THANK YOU to all the smokers out there from an asthmatic, here.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Smoking litter bothers me way more than smokers. (Unless it's smokers smoking where they really shouldn't, like on the T platform at Davis. GRRR!)

Companies sell (and for a while, I saw them given away for free) small fire-safe pouches for butt disposal. I've also known people who used altoid tins or (for a better form factor) band-aid tins. The first time I came across it was in 1992 while hiking in the Negev, and our guide was a smoker. He had the tin in a little holster attached to his belt. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. (He also brought along an espresso pot to brew coffee on the trail. What can I say? He was clearly a man in touch with his needs as well as environmentally conscious.)

Pocket Ash Trays

[lesliet-ma.livejournal.com]

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/pocket-ashtray-162555.php

http://www.amazon.com/Zippo-121505-Pocket-Ashtray/dp/B000BTJSIK

http://www.buttsandgum.com/cigarettelitter/pocketashtray.shtml

[gemini6ice.livejournal.com]

Many places have ashcans for the disposal of cigarette butts.

We live in an urban environment, however. Street sweepers regularly clean the streets. Litter keeps people employed. If the cigarette butts simply remained on the ground forever, you'd see a LOT more of them, considering how many people smoke and how often they smoke.

It's bad for the environment in rural areas, but I don't think it matters much where we live.

[gwodder.livejournal.com]

Yeah. All cities are dirty, all cities are "bad for the environment" insofar as they REPLACE the environment completely.

Personally, I like dirty things to look dirty so we don't delude ourselves into thinking they're somehow otherwise.

[gwodder.livejournal.com]

well when i smoked and I was finishing a cigarette I always did a field strike pinching out the burning tobacco and pocketing the filter until i got to a trash can.

I think you'll have to come to terms with the fact that most of your smoker neighbors don't care about cigarette litter. For those that do care, there's always the broom and dustpan option.

Do you really think that cigarette butts on the ground cause an appreciable environmental impact when compared to the car traffic and general energy waste that Davis Square attracts and produces? Everything that goes in a trash can ends up on the ground eventually.

[bds.livejournal.com]

Yesterday at the bus stop in Medford, an older fellow casually tossed his butt over the lip of the sidewalk, onto the street. I debated picking it up and walking it five feet to the trash can, but the word war wouldn't have been worth it. For that moment it put me in his shoes: there's a trash can for all trash except cigarettes -- where could I put it?

I like people's ideas of carrying around containers for disposal, but most smokers won't do so without precedent -- "there are so many butts on the ground; what's another?" Only on impeccable streets (or with heavy penalties) will most smokers care about keeping the ground clean.

Cig receptacles at bus stops would be a great change. Easy to use, right?

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

And when everyone here is done crying about the cigarette litter, come by my house. You'll see that the sidewalk, parking lot and YARD grow lottery tickets. Not cigarette butts.

While I try to be very conscientious about my cigarette butt disposal habits, I'd like to know what prompts everyone to just drop their losing scratch tickets on the ground and walk away...to the point where the last time I cleaned them up, they FILLED a 30-gal trash bag. I'm willing to bet I could police the entire Davis Square area of cigarette butts and not come close to that. Environmental impact what?

You wanted us outside to smoke? Great. We're outside. Now maybe providing more than the random butt receptacle in front of businesses where cmokers tend to congregate most might be a good start? Maybe?

Oh, and like it or not, I do know people who intentionally toss them on the ground because they're being spiteful about the whole smoking nazi thing. Pointless protest in my opinion, but there you go.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Good call on the scratch tickets...

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

We're an inconsiderate bunch? Apparently you haven't read some of the comments here, but that's understandable what with the print being hard to read from all the way up there on that extremely high horse of yours.

One solution would be to enforce littering laws on folks who throw cigarette buts on the ground. I would volunteer for enforcement, if they city is interested.

I bet you were the hall monitor in elementary school with the stopwatch that timed everyones potty breaks too. I'm sure you'd be well suited to the task of "cigarette butt enforcer". But does this little enforcement plan of yours extend to those who idly toss their lottery tickets into the street and to those who set their half empty cokes from McDonalds, coffees from Starbuucks and bags from Dunkin' Donuts down on ledges and the like as well...or is only the non-aryans cigarette litterbugs that most get your goat?

I propose a 2$ Smelly Fart Tax on every self-righteous, non-smoking, vegan hipster that stinks up the square with their foul, pinto bean and lentil indcued gas factory of an ass. The tac, of course, would be applied to pinto beans and lentils everywhere - because those fools will pay anything, especially of the label reads "Organic".

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

Since we're talking about litter - maybe someone can help solve a mystery for me! I live near the corner of Willow and Highland. There is a trash can near the bus stop...and it is always surrounded by banana peels in various states of decay. Seriously, I think there are about 6 out there today, ranging from barely spotty to black and dessicated. My question: is someone trying to avoid filling trash cans with otherwise biodegradable material? Or are they THAT BAD at hitting the trash can?

**Note: it's only banana peels, never anything else!

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Maybe a squirrel or something is pulling the banana peels out of the trash?

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

There are several states with fines specifically for cigarette butts. I think the laws fall under littering or maybe fire hazard for the states with wildfire concerns.

California has a fine from $380 to $1000 plus community service picking up litter (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921203443AA7MtWm)

Washington lists a fine of $1025 plus court costs (and even more if your butt starts a fire) (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2003/08/fire_prevention.htm)

[nalz.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that the 19% who smoke don't include people who consider themselves "social smokers" - do it when they go out at night and that's "it."

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

lulz, agreed.

once when i was trying to cut down i decided "okay, only when i go out." but then going out became almost every night of the week. there went that plan.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

If you live in Ward 6, contact your Alderman (http://www.rebekahgewirtz.org/contactrebekah) and complain. You could also suggest it as a revenue generator disguised as a beautification proposal.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

While I agree that throwing your cigarettes on the ground is nasty, I think smokers get picked on enough. I see lots more trash from the lottery, Dunkin Donuts, and McDonalds than I do from Marlboro, Salem, or Kool! Almost every building used to have a large, sand-filled 'ashtray' outside and/or in their lobby. Since the smoking police have decided that they want to force people to quit smoking, those have disappeared. Hence, often no safe place to dispose of a cigarette. APerhaps when they forced smokers outdoors they should have considered placing some type of container in the area for trash. And by the way, I'm not a smoker, never have been, I just think smokers are really put-upon, and it really bothers me that in most stores it's not that easy to purchase cigarettes, but the neighborhood kids can go to CVS and buy needles to inject heroin.
'What a world, what a world'

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

You are my new hero.

[darxus.livejournal.com]

When was the last time you complained directly to someone for doing that?

Also, I suspect littering is illegal. Have you tried asking local police to enforce existing laws?

[lusciousnichols.livejournal.com]

About 15 minutes ago.

D'Artagnon, is it just me or does anyone else think you have the suave look of a Musketeer?!

I think a previous poster had the idea of contacting the Alderman, which seems the best course of action. To me, it would be preferable to ask for cooperation from those who litter, instead of targeting a group of people for violations and enforcement.

One other poster mentioned that the mayor is already targeting litter and smoking by passing a law that makes it illegal to smoke in public parks and playgrounds. That includes *all* city parks, whether there is grass or not, like Statue Park(The Cigarette Butt Capitol of D^2).

While I support a law that supports public health and the environment, I'm not at all sure I understand the enforcement the good Mayor has in mind for this new law of his. Does anyone know if he's provided a backbone to this new law?

[lusciousnichols.livejournal.com]

I want to thank you all for sharing your thoughts and ideas. I haven't been able to reply to the majority of them (due to exams)but I appreciate this being a conversation for all of us who want good things for Davis Square.

Danke!