Coffee Break: World Environment Day 5th Jun 2023
Published at 01 June, 2023.
Make your contribution to World Environment Day and create a greener, healthier place to live in by stopping smoking!
Smoking damages much more than your health; It damages the environment we live in through de forestation, air pollution and cigarette butt litter!
Did you know there is an estimated 4 trillion cigarette butts littered in the world every year, making them the number one most littered plastic item in the world? Yes that`s right, they are made from cellulose acetate which is a form of plastic. They are not biodegradable but when they break into smaller pieces they leak chemicals like nicotine, arsenic, and heavy metals into the environment.
Animals may then ingest these. Marine wildlife can be affected too as discarded butts can get swept into drains and end up in our water systems, polluting our rivers and oceans. Birds and fish mistake them for food. If you have ever taken part in a beach clean-up, you will know that cigarette butts are the most common item of litter collected from the beach.
Cigarettes that have been discarded from car windows or dropped on dry ground can cause wildfires and grassfires.
Never discard cigarette butts anywhere than the bin to protect our environment, our wildlife and ourselves. Make sure the cigarette is extinguished properly before disposal. Never flush them down the toilet, down the sink or drains.
Second hand smoke is a cause of diseases effecting our families and our pets! Did you know that our air quality outside as well as
indoors is affected by smoking?
indoors is affected by smoking?
Tobacco agriculture uses a large amount of fertilizer and pesticides which has an impact on the environment. It generates a large amount of greenhouse gases. Growing, packaging, and distributing the tobacco all contributes to global pollution.
The biggest impact from smoking on the environment and climate change is deforestation of the land needed to produce the tobacco and the wood that is burned through the manufacturing process of the tobacco. Around 3.5million hectares of land are destroyed every year in the process of tobacco growing! The capability of growing crops again on the land that has been used to grow tobacco is diminished. This is especially threatening and burdening to farmers in developing countries who can least afford the environmental costs.
Reducing the damage on the environment by reducing tobacco
Consumption is the key, and you can be apart of that. Stopping smoking benefits your health and your environment for now, for your future and your family’s future.
Seek help to stop smoking from Yorkshire Smoke Free today on World Environment Day and contribute to a greener and healthier future for us all!
