Litter Education

As you probably are well aware, litter is a major problem in Limestone County.  Litter is misplaced, improperly handled waste.  Do you ever wonder where all the litter comes from or why people litter in the first place?  Keep America Beautiful, our national parent organization, has done a 3-year study to answer these questions.      Click here for Recycling Facts, Disintegration Time Table,  or other environmental sites.

WHAT IS LITTER?

Litter is solid waste discarded in an inappropriate place made up of more than 150 different items from seven basic sources:

• Household Garbage Cans

• Commercial Trash Containers

• Loading and Unloading Operations

• Construction Sites

• Uncovered Trash Hauling Trucks

• Motorists

• Pedestrians

WHY DO PEOPLE LITTER?

That's a good question.  There are lots of reasons that come to mind.  Keep America Beautiful did a study on this very question, and here's what they found.  There are basically three reason why people litter:

• People tend to litter where litter already exists.

• People litter where they feel no sense of ownership.

• People litter when they think someone will come behind them and clean it up.

WHERE DOES LITTER GO?

Litter moves.  It spreads in all directions from sources until it gets trapped in such areas as fences and wall bases, along planted areas, embankments and storm drains.  Once litter accumulates, it invites people to add more.  Litter travels by four methods:

• Wind

• Water

• Vehicles

• Animals

HOW CAN I REDUCE LITTER?

As a homeowner or renter:

• Have enough trash cans

• Keep lids tightly secured

• Bag trash to keep it from scattering

As a Pedestrian:

• Keep litter until reaching a trash container

As a motorist or passenger:

• Carry and use a litter bag in your automobile. 

• Used grocery bags work great.  Just use it, toss it, and replace it!

As a truck operator:

• Secure and cover loads - IT'S THE LAW!

As a business owner:

• Keep your dumpster area free of debris

• Work with the Recycling Center to recycle your cardboard and office paper -- join the program and they'll PICK IT UP!

As a concerned citizen:

• Encourage others to take pride in a clean Athens and Limestone County

• Participate in the Great American Cleanup -- an annual grassroots event to clean up our communities

• Be a good example to your children and friends -- NEVER litter.

• Recycle

HOW CAN I RECYCLE?

As resources become more scarce, it makes sense -- and CENTS -- to recycle.  Recycling saves valuable landfill space, natural resources, and energy.  And your organization can benefit from recycling, too!  Use recycling as a fundraiser.  Find out more about this and other recycling issues by visiting our Recycling pages.

IS CIGARETTE LITTER DANGEROUS?

What are cigarette filters made of?

Nearly all cigarette filters are composed of a bundle of 12,000 plastic-like cellulose acetate fibers.

Are cigarette butts biodegradable?

NO! Unlike paper products, they are not biodegradable. It can take years, in some cases up to fifteen, for fibers to decay into a plastic powder that can't be seen. Smokers may not realize that their actions have such a lasting, negative impact on the environment.

What happens to a cigarette butt after it is discarder?

Several trillion cigarette butts are casually flicked onto streets, parking lots, sidewalks, nature trails, and beaches annually. Typically wind and rain carry these filters by way of ditches and sewer systems into the Earth's water supply. Aquatic life at the bottom of the food chain pays a deadly price, but so do the birds and fish who mistake them for food.

Cigarette butts discarded while still burning have caused numerous grass and forest fires. This is of great concern in Limestone County, especially during periods of draught.

How do cigarette butts affect our environment?

Mother Earth is being rained upon by huge quantities of new cigarette butts each day. Look closely at the ground at any intersection, on sidewalks, public gardens, parking lots, beaches, playgrounds, and public parks. They're everywhere. Let's look at what is contained in these filters.

• Nicotine- the nicotine trapped inside 200 used filters is sufficient to kill an adult human (50-60 milligrams)

• Tar- tar refers to the more than 3.500 chemical particles and 500 gases generated by each burning cigarette that included arsenic, vinyl chloride, acetone, mercury and lead. Modern filters trap roughly half the tar while capturing 1/3 of a cigarette's formaldehyde and 2/3 of its hydrogen cyanide. Pick up a few dozen butts and take a big whiff. Smell the scent of bitter almonds? That's hydrogen cyanide.

One cigarette butt seems harmless, but with several trillion being discarded annually, the toxic chemicals add up!

How can smokers act responsibly?

If you are a smoker, begin by disposing of your own cigarette butts responsibly.  Help protect our environment and our health by taking action when you see littering take place. Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful Inc., has a program called LITTER WATCH which allows litter bugs to be reported -- that includes littering cigarette butts. 

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE....ACTION IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD ACHIEVEMENT!

Information obtained from the following sources:

Cigarettelitter.org

Whyquit.com

Other Environmental Organizations

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