A Plague In Our Planet Cigarette Filters Are Bad To The Environment

Laurizete Alves da Silva

Cigarette butts or filters are the most littered item on the planet. An estimated 5.6 trillion cigarettes are smoked each year out of which two thirds are improperly disposed of. That’s [3.7 trillion butts] each year. Since the 1980s, cigarette butts have accounted for 30% to 40% of all litter found in coastal and urban litter clean-ups. They are a common eyesore on our streets, our parks, our beaches and in our waterways. Many smokers admit to littering cigarette butts, possibly because they believe them to be benign or biodegradable and somehow do not consider them as litter. But as well as taking much longer to break down than most people think, discarded cigarette butts may significantly damage surrounding plant growth. Cigarette filters are bad for the environment and I would like to share it with my bachelor degree to open some people eyes about this problem.