zipper wrote: 

in your dreams

    Do I have to come up there and straighten you girls out? (my dad, circa 1969)

mrs_amanda wrote:
the nerve

zipper wrote:

as if

meower wrote:
you wish

 zipper wrote: 

did so

Rod wrote:

I'm not sure which coast you're referring to but I'm from a coastal city as well. You know what I've seen more of than anything on our beaches? Medical waste products (including needles), oil slicks and insane amounts algae. Not a whole lotta butts....

I was also simultaneously making a point about the Mob tendency we humans posses, and how easily folks get wrapped up in a "cause".

meower wrote:
did not.

phineas wrote:
I make a habit of tossing all garbage out of my car onto the roadway... I feel I am hastening the revolution that way...

I confess, I started this war.

 cc_rider wrote: 

From a  group on Facebook:


I propose a nominal 10c deposit be imposed on all cigarette butts sold in xxxxxxxx.

A cigarette butt deposit system would undoubtedly have an immense benefit to the people of xxxxxx. There would be an immediate reduction in the number of cigarette butts discarded at bus stops, on sidewalks and beaches and in our forests and parks. With fewer discarded butts, there would be a substantial reduction in visual and environmental pollution and a potential reduction in the number of accidental fires.

Such a deposit program would not impose any extra financial burden on cigarette smokers themselves since the deposit is fully refundable. Furthermore, it would be a far better option to smokers than yet another tax going into government coffers.

The deposit would be payable at time of purchase and easy to calculate - a 20 pack of cigarettes for example, would have a $2.00 deposit added to the actual purchase price.

After the smoker has enjoyed his purchase, they simply return the butts to any cigarette retailer in the province for a full cash refund.

If you support the implementation of a deposit on cigarette butts, please join this group, spread the word and contact your local MLA.

This is not an 'anti-smoking' group. It is a group dedicated to finding a way to reduce litter generated by smoking and smokers, along with the associated pollution.



It hit the media here a few months ago.

out_to_lunch wrote:
Um, sorry to burst your bubble, but I was not exaggerating. Our office used to be at a busy intersection, and whenever we had a big company party or client presentation, I went out and swept along the curbs to make it at least halfway presentable. While I did not actually count each butt, I can assure you it ran into four digits easily. You're right, they do get pushed along: right into the gutter where they sit with all the other detritus. I know I shouldn't single out smokers as being particularly trashy, but I'm callin' 'em like I see 'em.

c.

 out_to_lunch wrote:Nothing? Like I said earlier, in coastal cities, the majority of tossed butts end ip in the ocean where they end up being eaten by marine animals or birds who can't digest them. Some streets are swept, but most are not with any regularity, and the storm drains go directly into the ocean. Trust me, I see huge numbers of them on the beach every week. Even if we go along with butt picker uppers grabbing all we can find, which we often do, they are replaced by the next week. It is a BIG problem.

Of course we are all contributing, but If more people even made just the smallest effort to be a little more responsible, things would change drastically. It's pretty simple. We can avoid buying plastic water bottles, (I'm a recycling fanatic, but even the process of recycling is a big polluter) We can avoid a lot of unnecessary packaging. In some cases, it couldn't be easier to do the right thing. I constantly see newspapers and bottles tossed into trash cans when there is a recycling bin right next to it. WTF??

cc_rider wrote:

Yeah, it's pretty horrifying to see them piled up from time to time - almost like some kind of weird art exhibit.  I tend to have a blind spot concerning my own tossed-out filters, but I've become more aware of it since I moved to SoCal because of the recurrent wildfire dangers.  Earlier this year, I read somewhere (newspaper editorial maybe?) of a woman who was ticketed locally for merely resting her hand outside the car window while holding a burning cigarette. 

out_to_lunch wrote:

I'm so BUMPING this!!

Because I'm fabulous (j/k).

No, but it's something to think about - the trash issue and the mob issue....
the Queen hath spoken.

cc_rider wrote:

wow, you guys get really excited over nothing pretty quick....C, I doubt you'll ever see anything even approaching 100 butts at an intersection, nor thousands. The reason is simple: first, the air flow of moving traffic will push them along. Second, there just ain't that many smokers anymore. And then most towns and cities have street sweepers that run through.

In the end, they end up in a landfill, which brings me to the other idea, that the conscientious smoker will dispose of butts in a receptacle.....and they too end up in a landfill....
with diapers
water bottles (that's healthy, right?)
packaging from healthy foods like tofu, plastic bags from the produce section at the grocery store (which I DON'T use)
etc., etc.

I assume you don't think those things cease to exist as soon as you throw them away, right? And yeah yeah, recycling, yada yada yada...when you're out in public, do you throw your water bottle in the a) public trash can b) imaginary public recycling bins or c) chuck em on the ground, some bum will get it? Duh. Trash can. Unless you're like my ex who thinks its funny to trash towns he hates by throwing crap from his car out the window (I never gave him a break, no worries).

Cig butts are gross, and it's pretty disturbing to see a pile of them outside someone's house or place of business from socializing and breaks. But guess what - there's a whole bunch of other crap that's not breaking down either. And no matter how conscientious you think you are, you too are contributing.

Face it, people have been trained to jump on the mob wagon about smoking, but when you really look at it, it is just one of thousands of bad consumer behaviors that are contributing to larger problems.

onlylynne wrote:
My solution? Outlaw ciggy FILTERS. I don't like the smoke, but I can tolerate it: I understand it's a brutal addiction and I'm willing to make concessions. What I cannot STAND is the mountains (okay, molehills) of filters everywhere! The 'backy breaks down quickly, not much harm there (might get the local fishies hopped up a bit I guess), but filters are forever. Somebody needs to make a biodegradable filter. Or just outlaw the dang filters altogether. The part I really can't figure out, it why (some) smokers think that filter ceases to exist the moment it leaves their fingers! Take a look around any stoplight intersection: hundreds, thousands, of butts. Why not just throw your kitchen trash out there too? I'd call them disgusting pigs, but it's an insult to pigs. And Raspy of course.

c.

Welly wrote:

Hmm

So I went a-googling.
It seems no one can agree on how long it takes - some say 6-7 hours, some say 27 hours. I've heard from some nutritionists that there is animal fat that sits in your colon and doesn't move for a long time (some have said years, some weeks). I agree it may be urban myth, but it seems to be unchallenged by fact as well.

One thing I did notice was an overwhelming amount of info reporting that starches & wheat & corn based products all are harder to break down and will sit around longer as well, often emerging underdigested. I think this is why cows have like 7 stomachs. (or something). However, those who subsist traditionally on a meat-rich diet (an example of Inuit people was given) tend to have shorter bowels, which often means faster digestion....so it's all very conflicting.
What about gum? Does that stick around (haha) as once thought?

melissab wrote:







Mmmm - buttsteak.