Hit by a burning cigarette

I object to littering in proportion to the quantity or size of the litter. As long as it's not a wildfire area, I'm much more offended by a fast-food container tosses out a window, than by a cigarette.

But I'm more offended yet by smoking in public or around non-smokers because the non-smoker is being forced to consume a drug that kills.

Well, I'd have been delighted if my step-mother had been jailed, but you are right, there are other issues there.

All my family have been law-abiding (except me, with my civil disobedience). Therefore, if there had been a law against smoking in the presence of kids, my dad and even my nasty step-mother would not have done it. So that while there is some logic in what you say, that would not have been the result.

But I'm willing to modify my demand: People who smoke in the presence of kids should be reprimanded and warned. If they persist, then they should be thrown in jail. Or how about this: 24 hours in jail on a first offense, and 17 years on a second offense.

Yes, I am an extremist against tobacco smoke.

In Spain, where nearly everyone smokes, there are designated non-smoking cars on the trains. Many smokers book seats in the non-smoking cars and then go out to the area between cars to smoke, because even the smokers cannot stand the stink in the smoking cars!

 

Holy lord. I mean really. It is a very small wad of tobacco, paper, and cotton (all three of which biodegrade naturally). When I haul cotton to the gin, more is left along the side of the road than any smoker could ever put out (georgia snow) Maybe you want to make me pick up that too. Besides tobacco money pays alot of our family's bills. I smoke, and I guess according to ya'all I litter too. Nothing pisses me off faster than self-righteous non-smokers up on a soapbox. Worry about something that matters.

 

Wow, I just found a new respect for Bikers too. Why don't those kind of messages recieve a good reception from me? When I was 17, working at Chevron, I had just cleaned up the islands and some drunks drove in and started emptying all their beer cans onto the ground. I casually walked over and started placing them back in the car, so the guy got out and punched me in the mouth. Guess I don't look burly enough.

 

Doesn't it seem logical to make a distinction between litter that is on fire vs. litter that is not on fire? At any rate, I am offended by anyone who would throw out a gum wrapper, soda can, candy bar wrapper.

To smokers, I say "don't blow smoke in my face, and I won't blow fresh air in yours."

 

Amazing problem in that people who wouldn't think of littering, casually toss cigarettes and butts out the vehicle window. My fantasy is that every time someone tosses out a cigarette, all discarded cigarettes in a one kilometer radius immediately fly and permanently attach themselves to the outside of the vehicle. Wouldn't take long to deter cigarette littering because the offenders would be readily identified. Sort of a "Scarlet Letter" for cigarette tossers.

 

1. Well....do you litter? Can't find an ashtray or trash can? Leave it in your car or pocket. Or do you just not want dirty litter in your car or pocket?

2. Then I would really piss you off. If everyone thought about the "little" things like this, it would work it's way up to the bigger "more important" things. Ignorance is no reason....it's just an excuse.

 

+1 on everything you said in this post! It's my preferred, nuanced view of the subject matter.

Also, +1 on the issue of deliberate intent. The discarded cigarette butt is different than most other litter because it is rarely accidental and almost always intentional. However, smokers rarely have any realistic choice. You can easily put a bunched up gum wrapper in your pocket until the next time you see a garbage can. But that's nearly impossible to do with a burning cigarette butt, and problematic with a smelly and messy non-burning cigarette butt.

Ideally, I'd like American cities to have public multi-sectioned garbage disposal cans like some I've seen in other countries, or some I've seen outside buildings: one section for garbage; one section for recyclables; and one section on top for cigarette (and cigar) butts.

For the surface streets and highways, it doesn't bother me in the slightest to have small sized, essentially invisible things like cigarette butts there. Besides, they give the local Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club and other Adopt-a-Highway folks something to do.

 

You want specific points. Ok well about the only one that I have, or that I was trying to throw out was that cigarette butts are completely biodegradable. They break down and are gone. Completely gone. I agree that littering is bad, but only for those things that remain intact such as plastics, metals, ect. Oh well, I keep tossing butts out the window, as far as tossing any back into my car well keep in mind that I am a fervent believer in the right to bear arms...

 

Hey qbee42, I also ride a bicycle and I've had just about every object you can imagine thrown at me while in the saddle - beer cans, trash, food, etc. Please understand the type of person you are dealing with, and then just forget about it. They are not worth your time ... really.

I hope this doesn't mean that people will now treat me like I'm on the bike when I'm driving my Prius. At least I'll be able to chase them down better in the Prius.

... Brad

 

By that line of reasoning, one shouldn't hesitate to throw any biodegradable garbage out the window. Perhaps that is why I see so many paper McDonald's bags in the street. Who cares right? They are biodegradable. Newspapers, magazines, etc. - all eligible to be tossed right out the window. Now, I realize I have taken this to an extreme, but I am always amazed that people who would otherwise never contemplate littering, casually toss a cigarette butt out the window. Lastly, are you actually suggesting that you would shoot someone who dare pick up and return your errant trash to you? Welcome to the wild west.

 

WRONG

Cigarette Litter --Biodegradable?

CigaretteLitter.Org - The Facts About Cigarette Butts and Litter - Facts

Cigarette Butt Litter- Two Billion Littered Butts a Day

research before posting false statements

now, in light of the above, are you still going to keep throwing your butts out into the environment?

 

I wasn't sure about that, so I did a quick check. It seems that you may not be correct:

Cigarette Litter --Biodegradable?

CigaretteLitter.Org - The Facts About Cigarette Butts and Litter - Facts

... Brad

 

Yeah, they biodegrade, in about 10 years. They may be made from cellulose, but they aren't cotton. The are made from cellulose acetate, or rayon, a synthetic fiber. Unlike, plastic or rockwool, it will degrade, but in no way fast enough to keep up with the butts being tossed. Besides the things don't magically go out the second they leave your hand. Most of the ones I see on the side of the road, that escaped being squashed, are still smoldering.

 

I read that in NJ you can report somebody for throwing a lit cigarette out their window. It doesn't have to be a cop who sees it. I've never reported anyone although I've seen it on a number of occasions. I bet the cops wouldn't even know what to do if I tried to report it.