sa, sa, sa
cigarette taste lips
drunken folly and feel good holly
sustained
by
mips
(me)
Cigarettes and other organics.
It always runs through my head what to throw on the ground, what to throw away, and what to recycle. I guess I always want it to be recycled in some form or fashion. So I wonder of the effect of my spent cigarettes being thrown ground side , these are all filterless and mostly organic cigarettes. I believe that they would just decay and turn to soil. It maybe an eye sore for a while, but I usually tuck it away. That same idea extends to food. I guess it effects the environment surounding by producing false excess nutrients, first to animals then to trees, but isn't that better than being locked into a landfill?
Readings.
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/190/1/Tobaccos-environmental-impact.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/smoking_environ.php
Search "Cigarettes Environmental" on Google
Points,
For every 300 cigarettes one tree is cut down, mostly due to the curing process, around 600 million trees annually.
The tobacco plant uses more nutrients from the soil than average crops, thus depleting it faster.
Cigarette butts are the worlds leading litter problem, 1/3 are discarded improperly, and this can account for nearly 50% of western countries litter.
A cigarette butt takes an average of 15 years to degrade.
Cigarette butts are built to trap toxins. Many cigarette butts end up on wash away areas (streets, sidewalks...), which in turn flow into our waterways. This is where the toxins are leached into the water, or eaten by aquatic life. These butts can be deadly (if ingested, or in high enough concentration) and detrimental to various aquatic species.
So was I doing something wrong with the organic litter?
Probable not, the bigger problem is in the production of cigarettes. Its uncertain whether my spent cigarettes are harmful to the environment, decomposing in leaves or grass. Some species of plants thrive in tobacco fertilizer, such as strawberries, but for the most part keep it away from the vegetable garden. Tobacco can carry tobacco mosaic virus which can spread to other vegetables. If you do throw down your spent cigarettes, keep them away from hard surfaces. To keep wash away to a minimum.
Throw away those butts,
Adam Hackenberg
