In advance of Earth Day 2011, the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project (www.cigwaste.org), the National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov), University of California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (www.trdrp.org), and Legacy® (www.legacyforhealth.org) jointly sponsored a special supplement to the journal, Tobacco Control, which confirms the toxic impact cigarette butts have on the environment. Cigarette butts contaminate waterways and ecosystems, and leach heavy metals that pose health threats to humans and animals. This research brings together the current science about cigarette butt pollution and sets the stage for a new research and advocacy agenda focused both on preserving the environment and protecting our public health. On April 19, 2011, Legacy hosted a Warner Series Lecture featuring CBPP President Tom Novotny and three other experts that focused on how public health experts, policy leaders, environmental activists and even the tobacco industry can help prevent and put an end to this type of toxic waste.

To download the special supplement, watch the viral video "Butt Really", or view an archive of the Warner Series panel discussion, visit: www.legacyforhealth.org/buttreally. 

Please see this recent New York Times Article calling for the recycling of cigarette butts.

April 17, 2010

On Saturday, April 17th, 2010, San Diego State University (SDSU) undergraduate public health and environmental sciences students conducted a campus-wide cigarette butt cleanup.  They were working on behalf of the SDSU Cigarette Butt Pollution Project (cigwaste.org), whose goals are to reduce the environmental impacts of discarded cigarette butts and to advocate for adoption of waste mitigation policies at the national, state, and local levels. More than 60 student volunteers worked for about one hour to collect more than 23,000 cigarette butts from across the one-square mile campus, in addition to cigars, lighters, matches, and even cigarette cartons.

On Saturday, April 17th at 9:30-11:00 AM, San Diego State University undergraduate students will conduct a campus wide cigarette butt waste cleanup.  They will be working on behalf of the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project (cigwaste.org), whose goals are to reduce the environmental impacts of discarded cigarette butts and to advocate for adoption of waste mitigation policies at the national, state, and local levels. Cigarette butts are the single most commonly recovered item from beach and urban environmental cleanups.  In 2005, 376 billion cigarettes were consumed in the United States, and of these, 98% are filtered using cellulose acetate, a non-biodegradable plastic.  Butt waste leaches toxic chemicals into water environments, and these have been found to be deadly to fresh and saltwater fish, important micro-organisms, birds, and other marine animals.
The products of the cleanup will be presented at a Cigarette Butt Pollution Project booth as part of Earth Day celebrations at SDSU on April 22, 2010.  In attendance will be researchers, students, and Surfrider Foundation volunteers.  

For information and the opportunity to volunteer, please contact Michael Sawdey at msawdey@gmail.com.