Handsel Art
PRESS RELEASE
Date:
For Immediate Release
Contact: J.R. Few at
(870) 427-1365 or email
Tobacco Cartel Threatens Environment
On Sunday April 22nd communities around the world will celebrate Earth Day. Smoggy skies and pollution filled streams typically come to mind as threats to the environment but the cigarette butt is distinguished as the most singular example of irresponsible refuse. There are an estimated 5.5 trillion cigarettes smoked each year and 83% have synthetic filters. The group Keep American Beautiful estimates that only 10% of cigarettes are properly disposed. Many individuals who would never discard bottles or packaging irresponsibly think little of tossing a cigarette butt on the ground.
A major cause of wildfires, and the primary cause of fire deaths, cigarette butts are also a significant threat to wildlife and the water supply. Acetate cigarette filters can take years to degrade but only after toxins in tobacco tar leach into the soil or are ingested by wildlife. Cigarette filters continue to kill long after the tobacco has washed away.
A growing movement around the world is fighting tobacco
litter by establishing tobacco free parks and beaches.
Leading the educational effort in
On March 29 tobacco giant Phillip Morris announced awarding Keep America Beautiful $3 million in grants directed toward cigarette litter. Unfortunately the tobacco industry’s support of KAB has focused on enforcing litter laws and encouraging proper disposal of cigarette butts. Neither effort reflects any increased responsibility by the industry that manufactures cigarettes. In fact, encouraging more outdoor cigarette receptacles ‘normalizes’ public tobacco use.
“The tobacco industry has a clear incentive for keeping a tight reign on Keep America Beautiful. Philip Morris describes the issue of solid waste management as an ‘environmental threat,’ meaning an environmental issue that threatens its business interests,” says Walter Lamb founder of Cigarettelitter.org writing for the Center for Media and Democracy. “Internal Philip Morris documents repeatedly list Keep America Beautiful as a tool to be used to fight solid waste legislation that would benefit communities but threaten profits.”
Phillip Morris’ funding for Keep American Beautiful is less
than the amount the tobacco industry spends marketing every 2 hours in the
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All city parks in Mountain Home and
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