Resident shares photo of disturbing trend on local streets: 'Deplorable'

Walking along sidewalks, you might often step on an object that coats streets across the world, yet gets little attention: cigarette butts.  

One Reddit user found their pathway littered with cigarette butts to such a degree that they took to the subreddit r/mildlyinfuriating to voice their annoyance and remind smoking residents.

The original poster titled their post: "Why don't smokers view butts as trash?"

Thousands of upvotes and comments rallied up to question the same thing.

"I think littering is deplorable. The absolute worst," one outraged commenter wrote.

Studies have supported the sentiment. One 2023 study by the BMJ Group found that cigarette butts cost the U.S. at least $26 billion annually. This includes marine ecosystem damage and waste management costs. Further, cities spend $3-16 million per year to clean up cigarette butts, and findings showcase that they make up over one-third of all collected litter.

On top of that, the environmental costs are significant. Cigarette butts may look small, but they are among the most pervasive forms of plastic pollution. Most cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a type of plastic that can take more than a decade to break down. They leach toxic chemicals, such as arsenic, nicotine, and lead, in the process — this causes soil and water pollution, which harms marine life and contaminates ecosystems.

Environmentalists have warned that cigarette butts are often mistaken for food by birds and fish, leading to ingestion that can cause poisoning or death. One report from the Ocean Conservancy found that cigarette butts are the single most collected item during coastal cleanups worldwide — more than plastic straws, bottles, or bags combined.

Despite the scale, public awareness remains low. Unlike other visible waste, cigarette butts are often overlooked or dismissed as minor litter, which contributes to their ubiquity. However, advocates are calling for stronger measures, from installing dedicated cigarette disposal bins in urban areas to implementing extended producer responsibility laws that hold tobacco companies accountable for cleanup costs.

Reddit users in the comments section were in support of such measures.

Do you think sewage pollution is a major problem in America? Yes 👍 In most states 😢 In a few states 😣 No 👎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"Simply not littering is the single easiest, cheapest, most cost effective way to improve your community," one Redditor wrote.

One mentioned that public health measures have reached their own city: "My city spends something like a million dollars a year filtering cigarette butts and trash out of storm water drains to protect the local rivers and keep the Chesapeake Bay clean. I hate when I see people throwing trash on the ground." 

"This is something people gloss over," another commenter replied. "People talking about realizing the butts aren't really biodegradable. But no mention that one single discarded butt can contaminate up to 1000 liters/250 gallons of water. With all the stuff it filtered leaching back into the environment."

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