Cigarette Litter

[20thStDad]

I really don't mind second hand smoke, it reminds me of going to baseball games with my dad when I was young. I don't even care if people want to mess up their lungs. Really doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that for some reason cigarette smokers think they have free license to scatter their butts everywhere. I hate pulling up to a stop light and looking down to see hundreds of cigarette butts that have been gathered by the wind. Then there's the guy who's standing next to one of those butt holders the city or building puts out, but chooses to drop it and step on it. Even worse, I'm hiking in a beautiful wilderness, where there's no litter to be found - except cigarette butts. It's disgusting, and it's making our country (at least across the south I've noticed) look like crap. I know there are already fines for littering, but I want to see this enforced for smokers. Every butt out the window, $200. Every butt in a park or other public area, $200. I always tell people to pick up their crap when I see them do this, I hope others can keep up the trend and these inconsiderate smokers will learn one day that the world is not their ash tray. Every time I go walking I pick up whatever reasonable trash I can carry, I hope others can do the same. Litter just pisses me off. So prevalent, so easily preventable.

[foxmulder]

I really don't mind second hand smoke, it reminds me of going to baseball games with my dad when I was young. I don't even care if people want to mess up their lungs. Really doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that for some reason cigarette smokers think they have free license to scatter their butts everywhere. I hate pulling up to a stop light and looking down to see hundreds of cigarette butts that have been gathered by the wind. Then there's the guy who's standing next to one of those butt holders the city or building puts out, but chooses to drop it and step on it. Even worse, I'm hiking in a beautiful wilderness, where there's no litter to be found - except cigarette butts. It's disgusting, and it's making our country (at least across the south I've noticed) look like crap. I know there are already fines for littering, but I want to see this enforced for smokers. Every butt out the window, $200. Every butt in a park or other public area, $200. I always tell people to pick up their crap when I see them do this, I hope others can keep up the trend and these inconsiderate smokers will learn one day that the world is not their ash tray. Every time I go walking I pick up whatever reasonable trash I can carry, I hope others can do the same. Litter just pisses me off. So prevalent, so easily preventable.

It pisses me off to see the people throw there Shi$ out the window...You car, clothes, and hair already stink like... Keep the butt in the car...

[scottf]

It pisses me off to see the people throw there Shi$ out the window...You car, clothes, and hair already stink like... Keep the butt in the car...

Smoking may kill but it will always remain eternally cool... Ever see a hot chick light up in a bar? Damn, you just know she's a bad girl...Littering, however, is not cool. Use an ashtray.

[escapee]

Smokers are addicts. Non-recovering addicts are selfish, self-centered people. Their world is centered around them. Hence, their right to pollute the enovironment at will, with smoke, ashes, and butts. Trying to reason with them is like going to a dry well and expecting to get water.

Kudos to you, Dad, for being willing to pick up others' litter.

While we are on the subject of smokers.............parents who smoke in the presence of their children are guilty of child abuse. When I see kids trapped in a car with smoke, I want to cry for those poor, innocent little ones. They have no choice in the matter and no advocate.

Good topic.

[scottf]

Smokers are addicts. Non-recovering addicts are selfish, self-centered people. Their world is centered around them. Hence, their right to pollute the enovironment at will, with smoke, ashes, and butts. Trying to reason with them is like going to a dry well and expecting to get water.

Kudos to you, Dad, for being willing to pick up others' litter.

While we are on the subject of smokers.............parents who smoke in the presence of their children are guilty of child abuse. When I see kids trapped in a car with smoke, I want to cry for those poor, innocent little ones. They have no choice in the matter and no advocate.

Good topic.

Maybe we should shoot them or at the least throw them in jail? We get it, you don't like us smokers...okay...whatever. Smoking is legal. Littering is not.

I do agree that parents should never smoke in a vehicle with a child. Smoking in front of children as child abuse? I'm not buying that argument. If that is child abuse then so is being an obese parent and buying a child candy, cookies, ice cream, and high fat, high carb food. How far are you willing to go with your child abuse theory? If you have a fat child, that is child abuse far more so than smoking in front of them.

[20thStDad]

Bad parenting is a much more volatile topic than this one. Almost everything a parent does influences their child's behavior to some extent. I think smoking indoors with kids is a bad idea, if not child abuse.

Back to the topic, I've never looked into this, but are butts biodegradable worth a damn? I would hope so but from the trash I've seen I doubt it.

[scottf]

Bad parenting is a much more volatile topic than this one. Almost everything a parent does influences their child's behavior to some extent. I think smoking indoors with kids is a bad idea, if not child abuse.

Back to the topic, I've never looked into this, but are butts biodegradable worth a damn? I would hope so but from the trash I've seen I doubt it.

I agree. I don't smoke indoors with my two children. Thank you for not taking a moralistic and judgemental approach to smokers and simply rightly ridiculing those who litter.

I doubt that butts are biodegradable but I am not for certain.

[Jeebus]

I crack up every time I see someone smoking in their car with the window cracked, as if that small inlet of air will make a difference. I do get genuinely pissed off though when I see adults smoking in the car with kids sitting in the back. That's selfish.

On that note, I can tell instantly when opening the door of a used car I'm considering buying if its been smoked in. I always ask the salesman too if the previous owner was a smoker. I know they don't know, so when they lie and say "no" it just angers me that much more after opening that door and smelling that stale cigarette b.o. smell.

I've walked on quite a few salesmen who were too lazy to just tell the truth.

[musicman]

where's red? LOL

[TheNiche]

Smoking may kill but it will always remain eternally cool... Ever see a hot chick light up in a bar? Damn, you just know she's a bad girl...Littering, however, is not cool. Use an ashtray.

...yeah, but the lucky non-smoker only ends up taking your advice later that evening. It's distracting.

[RedScare]

where's red? LOL

Here I am, enjoying the occasional outrage at my filthy habit!

On the question of degradability, the answer is....kinda. The tobacco and paper are, of course, biodegradable. The filter is a form of plastic, and, while it degrades, it takes 18 months to 10 years...far too long to satisfy the rabid non-smokers amongst us. Personally, I dispose of my butts properly, and even have a handy-dandy butt container (compliments of Phillip Morris!) to hold my butts when walking or hiking in areas without trashcans. One of the side benefits of smoke nazis forcing smokers outdoors is that their are many outdoor ashcans now, making it easy for me to keep my environment clean.

I used to get defensive about my smoking, but having seen non-smokers commit far more egregious acts while condemning my smoking, now it is merely an amusement.

Note to Jeebus: If you played with fire more often, you might have noticed that cracking one window in your car creates suction, sucking the cigarette smoke right out of the interior. Few people can even tell that I smoke in my vehicle. I crack up that you did not know this simple airflow trick.

Pocket Ashtray

[TheNiche]

Note to Jeebus: If you played with fire more often, you might have noticed that cracking one window in your car creates suction, sucking the cigarette smoke right out of the interior. Few people can even tell that I smoke in my vehicle. I crack up that you did not know this simple airflow trick.

My parents do this all the time.

But they fail to realize that their sense of smell is impaired and that non-smokers can still detect traces of the scent in the vehicle.

The impaired sense of smell would probably also have adverse effect on one's ability to be a hunter/gatherer in a post-apocalyptic future. That's why I don't smoke.

[20thStDad]

Yeah I can easily tell if a car or home has been smoked in, or if a pet was ever inside. It took 6 months to de-cat when I bought my house. I figured 1 little cat, I can handle it. I'll never buy another indoor-pet-house again. I wish my sinuses weren't so damn sensitive.

[sevfiv]

Next time you see someone throw anything from a vehicle, note the plate number, vehicle type, time and location, then go here:

http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/reportlitterer/index.php

[dbigtex56]

Personally, I dispose of my butts properly, and even have a handy-dandy butt container (compliments of Phillip Morris!) to hold my butts when walking or hiking in areas without trashcans.

I thought that's what the little pocket (fob) on the right side of bluejeans was for. Who the hell uses it for a pocket watch these days?

I feel guilty enough about smoking without adding littering to my vices.

Worse littering offenders seem to be people who buy soft drinks at fast-food restaurants. Our storm sewers and bayous are clogged with them.

[RedScare]

But they fail to realize that their sense of smell is impaired and that non-smokers can still detect traces of the scent in the vehicle.

The impaired sense of smell would probably also have adverse effect on one's ability to be a hunter/gatherer in a post-apocalyptic future. That's why I don't smoke.

My post related to the non-smokers who think they can tell, but cannot smell smoke in my vehicle. They think that I do not smoke in the car. Rather amusing, really.

As for the post-apocalypse, tobacco will be one of the most valuable commodities....along with alcohol. I intend to hoard both when I see it coming.

[crunchtastic]

As for the post-apocalypse, tobacco will be one of the most valuable commodities....along with alcohol. I intend to hoard both when I see it coming.

Precisely. Those of us with the smokes and the booze will have other people doing our hunting and gathering for us, in exchange.

[gwilson]

Smoking may kill but it will always remain eternally cool... Ever see a hot chick light up in a bar? Damn, you just know she's a bad girl...Littering, however, is not cool. Use an ashtray.

Nothing makes a hot girl ugly in a heartbeat like lighting a cig. Second is opening their mouth and finding out they are idiots.

[Jeebus]

Note to Jeebus: If you played with fire more often, you might have noticed that cracking one window in your car creates suction, sucking the cigarette smoke right out of the interior. Few people can even tell that I smoke in my vehicle. I crack up that you did not know this simple airflow trick.

I'm quite familiar with the priciples behind the Venturi Effect concerning airflow around and inside a moving object.

My question for you is how much negative pressure are you creating when you're sitting at that red-light for 2 minutes, every 5 to 7 minutes, as you trek across town?

[houstonmacbro]

I really don't mind second hand smoke, it reminds me of going to baseball games with my dad when I was young. I don't even care if people want to mess up their lungs. Really doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that for some reason cigarette smokers think they have free license to scatter their butts everywhere. I hate pulling up to a stop light and looking down to see hundreds of cigarette butts that have been gathered by the wind. Then there's the guy who's standing next to one of those butt holders the city or building puts out, but chooses to drop it and step on it. Even worse, I'm hiking in a beautiful wilderness, where there's no litter to be found - except cigarette butts. It's disgusting, and it's making our country (at least across the south I've noticed) look like crap. I know there are already fines for littering, but I want to see this enforced for smokers. Every butt out the window, $200. Every butt in a park or other public area, $200. I always tell people to pick up their crap when I see them do this, I hope others can keep up the trend and these inconsiderate smokers will learn one day that the world is not their ash tray. Every time I go walking I pick up whatever reasonable trash I can carry, I hope others can do the same. Litter just pisses me off. So prevalent, so easily preventable.

When I was a teenager I used to throw stuff out the window on the freeways --guess I really didn't think littering was so bad since they hired inmates to pick it up anyway.

Now I just keep a plastic bag in the car for trash. I empty it at home or the gas stations. I am very much against litter now and even feel bad when the stray paper (napkins usually) fly out the window when I have the windows down.

People should just empty their trash in trash cans!

[RedScare]

I'm quite familiar with the priciples behind the Venturi Effect concerning airflow around and inside a moving object.

My question for you is how much negative pressure are you creating when you're sitting at that red-light for 2 minutes, every 5 to 7 minutes, as you trek across town?

I don't know. Let me go check the air pressure created by my AIR CONDITIONER FAN and get back to you.

[ricco67]

I don't know. Let me go check the air pressure created by my AIR CONDITIONER FAN and get back to you.

Gee. You think you need any additional barometric instrumentation to help out in your ground breaking experiment?

[RedScare]

Gee. You think you need any additional barometric instrumentation to help out in your ground breaking experiment?

No thanks...already got enough.

[Jeebus]

I don't know. Let me go check the air pressure created by my AIR CONDITIONER FAN and get back to you.

Make sure to select fresh air and not recirculation if you have any plans on selling later.

[RedScare]

Make sure to select fresh air and not recirculation if you have any plans on selling later.

Well, if I used recirculation, it would not create the positive cabin pressure I am seeking, now would it?

Jeebus, reread my note in post #11. I noted that few non-smokers can even tell I smoke in my truck. This suggests that I know a thing or two about keeping odors from collecting in my vehicle. But, you needn't worry. I own a Toyota. I won't be selling it for awhile, and not to you, since I just told you I smoke in it. There are a few other potential buyers out there, many of them smokers!