Talking Trash

Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing problems of today. While some countries are dealing with inefficient garbage collection and disposal systems, others have low recycling rate. 

How did this happen?

Plastic has revolutionised the modern age so much so that life without plastics is unrecognisable. By numbers, half of the plastics have been manufactured in last 15 years. A material meant for use, convenience and potability , Plastics have been used and abused and are here to stay forever. Much of it exists as microplastics in oceans and is causing distress to marine ecosystems. 

Some people call is it as a Design failure , a material born to be useful without much thought to where would it land as a waste and fill up the landfill sites and is to stay much after we are gone. If current trend continues, we will have more plastic than fish by 2050. 

Environmentalist have taken actions systematically, targeting sequentially ban of plastic bags, eating utensils and most recently the ban of single use plastic straws. But what had really been striking is the fact that none of these but the cigarette butts are single greatest source of ocean trash. Cigarette filters are made of a plastic called cellulose acetate. When you flick a cigarette, not only plastic is dumped but nicotine leaches into the environment and absorbed by the surrounding.

Moved so much by the story on National Geographic, I started etching images to spread awareness. You can see image on Bleeding Planet, representing the ubiquitous environmental contaminants of considerable persistence leaving planet earth lone and ugly. 

Bleeding Planet Video

What is the solution to the problem of Plastic Pollution caused by Cigarettes?

1. Kick the Butt, literally- Give up on cigarette smoking, not only the reasons concerning your own health but also looking at what would be your contribution to the environment, the legacy you will leave behind for your grand children.

2. Ash it Up- Using the Ash tray instead of littering the air and land with cigarette butts. Keeping it confined to ash tray will limit leaching of nicotine and other chemicals and mindful disposal of ash could help alleviate the littering problem. Fumo, a new fangled ash tray is looking at rewarding to alter the behaviour of serial litterers.

3. Bio-degradable Filters is another alternative to Acetate filters. Greenbutts has already patented a technology.

Thinking about who actually is responsible for butt pollution, Is it the Companies who manufacture or sell the products or the smokers themselves, problem still persists. As a community we all have to be in it and seek collective decisions for permanent solutions.