Butts Everywhere

Why is it, that everyone is aware that littering is bad for the environment and it is frowned upon to do so, but the same thoughts are not with people dropping their cigarette butts all over the place?

This is something I have noticed over the last couple of years- predominantly whilst I have been spending more time in the central city for university. It is something that shocks me, but more importantly I am shocked by the sense of acceptance that Aucklander's have with regard to this issue.

Does everyone not know that whatever you drop on the street will most likely get picked up by stormwater and get taken directly to water sources such as the harbour?? Aucklanders are constantly complaining about the state of our harbour and its lack of aesthetics because of the tank farms and ports of Auckland. Surely a good start (and an achievable one at that) would be reducing the amount of cigarette butts we are letting get into our environment.

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for our health, so if it is bad for our health then it must be bad for the state of our environment and the health of species living within it. I did a bit of research with regard to this, and found an Australian site that outlined the adverse effects of cigarette butts on the environment.

• "When it rains, cigarette butts lying in our streets and gutters are carried via storm water directly into our harbours, beaches and rivers.  The chemicals contained in these butts and the butts themselves impact on our water quality and can be deadly to marine life.

• Flicked butts can cause fires. When thrown from a motor vehicle into dried grass, butts can start a grass fire or even a bushfire.
• Cigarette butts can take up to 12 months to break down in freshwater and up to 5 years to break down in seawater.
• Littered butts seriously reduce the aesthetic quality of any environment. Butts have been found in the stomachs of young birds, sea turtles and other marine creatures."

 I would have thought this was all very obvious to people, but apparently not. Below are some images showing the issue expressed in society.

Ciggarette Butts scattered through the sand on beaches. The Beach is meant to be New Zealands iconic feature, representing our natural environment and how lucky we are to have so much access to it. This photo shows the lack of appreciation there really is for such important landscapes.

This photo shows how cigarrette butts have the potential to dominate public open space and totally destroy the beauty of the built environment as well as the natural environment. This photo was taken on the Kapiti Coast where they brought in the ban of smoking in public places- an action that they have found to significantly reduce the amount of cigarette litter around the area. Image sourced from Kapiti Coast News.

I think the thing that annoys me the most is how contradictory it all is. New Zealander's pride themselves in the clean green image and Aucklander's jump on this band wagon however do nothing much to contribute to actually creating a true reflection of the image. People need to wake up, and realise that dropping cigarette butts is just as bad if not worse, for the environment as dropping other litter.

Here is the article of the adverse effects on the environment and the article about what has been happening in the Kapiti Coast
http://www.cleanup.org.au/PDF/au/cleanupaustralia_cigarette_buts_factsheet.pdf
http://www.kcnews.co.nz/story.php?storyID=1868