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Why Are Cigarette Butts Littered?

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Why are cigarette butts littered? In the article, Whose butt is it? Tobacco industry research about smokers and cigarette butt waste, the psychology of a smoker littering the butt of a cigarette was research looked at. There had been previously done focus groups by the tobacco industry about this subject because the industry had realized that the litter was bad for business. What they found was that people littered because it was so common place that they found it to be almost acceptable. Some people in the study even said that putting a cigarette out on the ground was “conscientious” because it “eliminated the risk of fires.” Others didn’t believe or acknowledge that there was an environmental concern in tossing the butt on sidewalks or …show more content…
These cigarettes come from the streets or landfills. People often don’t think much about leaving an individual cigarette on the ground, but they add up, and quickly. These cigarettes also tend to find their way to beaches and coasts through passage of storm drains, streams, and rivers. In a coastal cleanup study in Argentina, research found that out of 20,336 items of litter 33% of those items are cigarette butts (Seco Pon & Becherucci, 2012). In this research, litter was considered throwing waste products on public streets, and all of it had gotten into the coastal environment. In an international coastal cleanup, out of 10,957,338 items, 19% of the total items were cigarettes or cigarette filters (Ocean Conservancy, …show more content…
2009). These filters are made up of cellulose acetate, which is made from combining cellulose and acetic anhydride that has been cleared of its acid, then made into fiber. There has been multiple studies pertaining to the actual benefits of filters, and it has been found that the switch to unfiltered cigarettes just changes the kind of lung cancer people get from smoking (Harris 2011). Cellulose is the substance that makes up cell walls within plants, so a structured and sturdy material. These filters are often what people see when they see a discarded

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