The
world has enjoyed picking up on plastic straws recently when it comes to ocean
waste, despite them accounting for just 0.02
percent of ocean waste. But there are bigger fish to fry. One of those
appears to be cigarette butts, according to a report by NBC
News. They reported it was the number one human-caused contaminant in the
world’s oceans, and it has managed to avoid regulation so far.
The
main issue appears to from cigarette filters, which Thomas Novotny, professor
of public health at San Diego State University, told NBC News had “no health
benefit”. He added that it “seems like a no-brainer to me that we can’t
continue to allow this.”
The
filters of the 5.6 trillion cigarettes (two-thirds of which are dumped
irresponsibly) made around the world each year are composed of cellulose
acetate, which can take more than a decade to decompose. Since 1986 cigarette
butts have been the most collected item of ocean beaches, with about 60 million
found in 32 years.
Filters
were invented in the mid-1900s to alleviate health concerns from cigarettes,
but have now become a major problem. A 2011 study by Professor Novotny found
that getting smokers to stop flicking the ends of their cigarettes was
difficult, with anti-litter campaigns and permanent ashtrays being
unsuccessful.
A
campaign called the Cigarette
Butt Pollution Project is now hoping to change attitudes towards
cigarette filters. “Cigarette butt waste has polluted our beaches, parks, and
communities long enough – it’s time to take action!” they wrote on their
website.
Some
steps have already been taken to tackle the problem around the world. In the
US, attempts have been made to pass legislation to ban filters, or raising
cigarette pack costs to cover clean-up funds.
And
earlier this month, we reported on a theme park in France that had trained
some of its rooks to pick up litter and cigarette butts, with the goal
being to show that “nature itself can teach us to take care of the
environment.”
So
while the war on plastic straws is undoubtedly good news – demonstrating
just how easy it is to make a small change to your daily life – there is
still much further to go to clean up our oceans. Cracking down on cigarette
butts would be a good step.