It is something I just can’t stand. Smokers are sitting in their car puffing away and then they just toss their cigarette butt out the window.
I was just sitting in traffic and saw the guy in front was doing exactly that. Then he tried to hide the fact he dropped his cigarette butt however when he drove off their it was in all it’s plastic glory.
At the next set of lights I casually got out of the car and went and handed him my business card saying that he should have a read of the website and see how his filthy habit is killing our oceans.
I have to give him credit as about 3 minutes later he called me appologising and saying he will change his ways.
But it is far too common a thing and it is because people just don’t think. Those cigarette butts are going to be washed into drains and end up out in our oceans. The filters are made of plastic so they will last forever and quite commonly they will end up inside a marine animal. It’s not just the smokers in cars, it is anywhere you drop your cigarette butt, it will find it’s way to the oceans and creeks unless somebody picks it up for you.
O.K if you want to slowly kill yourself by smoking that is fine, but don’t kill our marine life.
I recall the story of the sea turtle I found in the Whitsundays where it’s stomach had a plastic bag inside it. Everything it ate went inside that plastic bag and the contents included 12 cigarette butts, a bottle cap and 1/2 a coke can. It had all been amongst the sea grass the turtle had been eating and as they can’t regurgitate they need to be digested and these items can’t do that.
I also recall a clean up that a friend did on the main beach in Airlie Beach where they picked up over 7,000 cigarette butts in a day. All washed out of the main street in Airlie and up onto the beach. You see it all the time that people smoke in the streets and flick their butts away. Try an ash tray people, that’s what they were invented for.
So hopefully my little intervention will prevent this seasoned smoker from flicking any more butts. Maybe he will read this when he gets home and then go to the lessons page and show his kids the lesson plans we developed. There was no need to get angry with him, just try and point him in the right direction. Let’s hope and let’s hope he will tell his mates.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see a cigarette advert with the slogan, cigarettes will kill you….more importantly they’ll also kill our marine life!!!!