Smokers must be responsible with their butts
Walking back to the Towers, I passed a trash receptacle and spotted an empty cigarette pack carelessly left on the ground.
It was not an unusual sight to see, but what shocked me is that I picked up five more empty packs before I could even make it to the train tracks. From then on, with every other step that I took to the Towers I spotted two new cigarette butts on either side of me.
I was not surprised to read that one of the nation’s leading community action organizations, Keep America Beautiful, Inc., found that only 10 percent of cigarette butts are properly put away in ash receptacles.
I asked 13 smokers outside different Towers’ entrances to get their perspective.
Eleven said it is an issue of laziness. 3 admittedly laughed about their lazy habit, saying that it’s easier to toss cigarettes on the ground than worry about where they end up.
There seems to be a smoker’s myth that cigarette butts will disappear if they’re tossed on the ground.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s research show that most cigarette filters are made with cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that does not rapidly biodegrade.
This poses long-lasting environmental problems when they’re tossed on the ground. Evidence from both of the above sources indicates that cigarette butts present a biohazard to our water supply.
However, I found most of the ash receptacles were still filled to the rim with butts.
I applaud CMU’s facilities management and beautification for keeping campus clean, but perhaps the ash receptacles could be emptied more frequently, or more of them could be placed around campus.
The littering issue comes down to personal responsibility. There are cigarette sandboxes on almost every outdoor trash receptacle on campus.
