Updated May 1st

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Cigarette butts have been found in the stomachs of fish, whales,

birds and other marine animals which leads to ingestion of hazardous

chemicals and digestive blockages. The pieces can get lodged

in an animal’s intestinal tract or build up in its stomach,

which can often lead to the animal’s death

Air pollution:

Burning tobacco is the main source of indoor air pollution in

the developed world. In the developing world, the curing of

tobacco often includes burning wood which directly contributes

to global warming

Pets:

Discarded butts can pose serious health concerns for pets,

particularly in playground and park settings. It only takes

two or three cigarette butts ingested by a small pet to seriously

harm or kill them.

Deforestation:

Each year nearly 600 million trees are destroyed to provide

fuel to dry tobacco. Put in another way one tree is destroyed

for every 300 cigarettes. Globally, tobacco curing requires

11.4 million tons of solid wood annually. Curing is the drying

of the tobacco leaf which in most developing countries means

that acres of trees are chopped down and burned in order to

dry the tobacco leaf. In southern Africa alone an estimated

200,000 hectares of woodlands are cut annually to support

tobacco farming. This accounts for 12% of deforestation in

the region.

Additionally, further deforestation is caused by the paper

use associated with wrapping, packaging, and advertising cigarettes.

A modern cigarette manufacturing machine will use more than

six kilometres of paper per hour.

Production Waste:

The tobacco manufacturing process produces liquid, solid,

and airborne wastes. In

1995, the global tobacco industry produced an estimated 2262

million kilograms of manufacturing waste and 209 million kilograms

of chemical waste.