CB Litter – The biggest and smallest pollutant around
Tim Garcia, Fairhaven Sustainability Committee
Cigarette butts (CB) are the most littered item in America. They block storm drains and cause pollution to waterways. They accumulate along land mass leading to sediment and erosion. They pose hazards to wildlife while contaminating both the water and the land surrounding it.
Although cigarette sales, according to the (FTC) Federal Trade Commission, have seen a decline of 400 billion individual cigarettes sold in 2001, the disposal of these cigarettes, cigarette butts, and cigarette filters (collectively referred to as CB Litter) is still a major contributor to overall pollution.
• 173.5 billion individual cigarettes were sold in 2022
• Approximately 9.7 billion cigarette butts were discarded improperly
• 4 billion individual CB Litter eventually made it into waterways
• Which equates to 18,456 CB’s littered every minute
CB Litter is small and light and is easily blown from place to place. Meaning, wherever CB Litter begins is almost never where it ends up. Usually areas not common to pedestrian or vehicle traffic, such as; wetlands, under trees and bushes, and waterways.
All land CB Litter is decomposed by mycelium, which is a white or cream colored moldy fungal growth. Unfortunately, this causes Blight, which is a plant disease covering lower stems giving a white-washed appearance to the base of plants, shrubs, and trees.
All water CB Litter leaches out toxic emissions from the cigarette paper and the filters such as; cadmium, lead, aluminum, arsenic, copper and zinc, just to name a few.
Here in the town of Fairhaven, whether CB Litter is on land or in water it has a high potential of contaminating our collective drinking water supplies. Not only impairing our water quality in preserved wetlands, lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers, but contaminating our groundwater which is beneath the surface of our land. The possibility that one day we may drink this is real, so prevention is key.
It is a great thing that cigarette sales, and tobacco products in general, are on a decline. This helps out further pollution. But today, CB Litter continues to remain a significant pollution problem.
In Fairhaven we all do our part in keeping our wonderful historic town as beautiful as it was since 1812, by striving to keep pollution to its barest minimum. And the health and welfare of the residents directly tie into prevention of the water pollution as well as the land.
With park and beach cleanups coming soon as the warmer months approach, be on the lookout for those in your area clearing up pollution and see first hand how CB Litter affects the biodiversity in Fairhaven.
Water is essential to an abundant life. Not only ours, but all living beings in the town. So let’s strive to keep CB Litter out of it.
To learn more about water pollution in your town, go to Town of Fairhaven Bylaws Chapter 194 Stormwater Management.
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