Quit Smoking Monday Messages

Cigarette Litter: A Plague on Our Planet

I was as guilty as the next smoker when it came to tossing a cigarette butt out of the window of my car or stubbing a cigarette out on the ground as I stood outside having a smoke. Like thousands of other smokers, I didn't think twice about leaving a trail of cigarette litter behind me, but had I known how my actions affected our environment, I would have been much more careful.

Americans are smoking fewer cigarettes than ever before, yet cigarette butts continue to be the most commonly littered item in the United States and around the world today. They specify two reasons for this statistic -- lack of awareness on the smoker's part, and the lack of availability of waste receptacles at "transition" locations, such as outside stores and other buildings, and at public transportation pickup spots.

The core of most cigarette filters -- the part that looks like white cotton, is actually a form of plastic called cellulose acetate. By itself, cellulose acetate is very slow to degrade in our environment. Depending on the conditions of the area the cigarette butt is discarded in, it can take 18 months to 10 years for a cigarette filter to decompose. But that isn't the worst of it. Used cigarette filters are full of toxins known as tar, and those chemicals leach into the ground and waterways, damaging living organisms that contact them. And, most filters are discarded with bits of tobacco still attached to them as well, further polluting our environment with nicotine.

Cigarette Filter Facts:

• Cigarette filters were designed to absorb some of the toxins in cigarette smoke and collect solid particles known as tar. They are also intended to keep tobacco from entering the smoker's mouth.

• Most cigarette filters contain a core of cellulose acetate and two layers of wrapping that are made of paper and/or rayon.

• Cellulose acetate fibers in a cigarette filter are thinner than sewing thread and a single filter contains more than 12,000 of these fibers.

• The inner wrapper on a cigarette filter is designed to either allow air to flow through it from the core for light cigarettes, or to block airflow for regular cigarettes.

• The outer layer of paper is engineered to not stick to a smoker's lips and attaches the filter to the tube of tobacco.

• Chemicals are added to cigarette paper to control the burn rate, and calcium carbonate is added as a whitener, in part to create an appealing ash as the cigarette burns.

Everything -- absolutely everything -- about cigarettes can threaten life on our beloved planet. They pollute the ground we walk on and the air we breathe. And if we smoke, cigarettes poison us slowly, stealing our quality of life long before they kill us.

When you quit smoking, you're making a significant contribution toward a better world for all of us, not to mention your own precious health. Take steps today to put that last cigarette out and start a new chapter in your life. A chapter free of guilt and worry. A chapter filled with the self-empowerment that smoking cessation brings.

• Your Quit Smoking Toolbox

Yes, recovery from nicotine addiction takes some hard work early on, but with support and a plan, you can leave your smoking habit behind for good -- both for your health, and the health of the planet.

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Take The Quit Smoking Monday Pledge

Healthy Monday encourages us to think of every Monday as a day that we can begin work anew on goals that we have for ourselves. If you're still smoking, put your cigarettes down and get started on your quit program today.

• Quit Smoking Monday Messages Archive

We all have the ability to quit smoking successfully, and we all deserve a life that is free of addiction. Honor your life by choosing Monday as the day to start and reinforce your quit program.

You can quit smoking ... and we’re here to help you, one simple Monday at a time.

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