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The city will be issuing $500 tickets to people caught smoking on public beaches, so get your puffs in before you head to the lake. Chicago Park District superintendent Tim Mitchell says "people have been using North Avenue Beach as an ashtray. By leaving cigarette butts on the beach, that adds to the pollution of the lake, and that's our greatest natural resource." According to the Trib, 1.7 billion pounds of cigarette litter accumulate on the planet every year. [Trib, previously]
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I never understood why so many smokers--old, young, male, female, urban, rural, those with Obama buttons and those with W bumper stickers--feel free to simply discard their butts onto sidewalks, streets and parkland.
Is there something in some smokers' brains that switches off any considerations of littering, which, of couse, remains illegal and often harmful?
I am especially confused when I see some person I assume to be green--it can be the Sierra Club sticker, or the Greenpeace button, or the 'buy organic' stuff on their backpacks or guitar cases--toss a butt without any second thought.
The lung and skin cancer club needs to stop using the beach as an ashtray, nasty bastards.
I totally agree with Matilda.
This issue has been a thorn in my side since I can remember.
Littering is something that absolutely sends me over the edge.
I have never understood the mentality of people who think that the earth is their personal ashtray (or garbage can as the case may be).
When I was little, I was sitting on the grass at an outdoor venue watching some performance (don't even remember what) but I remember it was crowded. I leaned back to put my hands behind me on the ground and felt this burning sensation. Someone had just flicked their still lit cigarette butt and I had unknowingly leaned right into it. I had a painful blister on the palm of my hand!
If you want to smoke, I support your right to do that...but why do so many of you have to be so rude?
if Bio Dome, starring Paulie Shore, taught us anything, it's that we should collect cigarette butts to filter the waters of Lake Michigan.
I am especially confused when I see some person I assume to be green--it can be the Sierra Club sticker, or the Greenpeace button, or the 'buy organic' stuff on their backpacks or guitar cases--toss a butt without any second thought.
I've never seen anybody with "buy organic" *stuff* on their backpack or guitar cases, actually how often do you see somebody walking down the street with a guitar case? Do you live across the street from a practice space?
Anyway I agree, littering is a scourge. I'm actually more bothered by empty bags of Cheetos and endless plastic bodega bags floating around but that's just me. Fines should be stiff for littering on the beach or even worse in the water.
Fines should be stiff, but public trash receptacles should be more abundant. I carried an empty coffee cup around my neighborhood the other day for half an hour in a vain attempt to find somewhere to dispose of it. I finally just gave up and used it to panhandle. Adversity is the mother of invention, I suppose.
Navin: Are you lonely, or do you just like me?
Anyway, yes--I live pretty close to a music education center, one of the largest in the city in fact, and it has a good amount of traffic nearly all the time, afternoons and nights, weekends and weekdays. I see those types of green-friendly stickers on guitar cases and similar equipment at least a few times a week, if not more, along with the constant littering activity. I used that only as an example of a larger point, as you know, but thanks for trying to stir up some stupid shit again with your favorite Internet pal.
Just because you've not seen it does not mean it is untrue.
Smokers have been banned from smoking anywhere indoors, so more butts are ending up on the street. Take heart, soon laws will be passed allowing the citizenry to publicly execute smokers and this will no longer be an issue. Until then, the Chicago City Council will continue coming up with new and exciting ways to fine and tax this ever-shrinking group.
SSboy,
Definitely I was going to say that there needs to be more public trash reseptacles in general.
'Tilda,
My fault, I thought you were making another groundless exagerration again. I guess I was wrong...............
Take heart, soon laws will be passed allowing the citizenry to publicly execute smokers and this will no longer be an issue.
You almost make me want to sing 'We Shall Overcome" for you poor smoking martyrs in your struggle for civil rights--that is, the right to pollute my lungs and leave your trash everywhere for other people to [possibly] clean up. Too bad Dr King isn't around--surely he would take up your cause.
How about this simple rule: Smoke when and where it does not bother anyone else, and don't litter? What is so hard about that? What is so evil about that? Why are some smokers not adult or disciplined enough to adhere to those basic rules, which nearly glow with common sense and civic courtesy?
Tilltildest
I see you are finally drinking from my bottomless well of humor and mirth!
Salute soldier!
There is enough for all to partake till thy cup runneth over!
Remember, I have Marxist leanings ;-)
Beyond the littering aspect I always yell (in my head at least) "HYPOCRITE" when I see a hemp wearing, PIRG peddling, enviro do-gooder sparking up a cigarette. (Is it just me or does every PIRG peddler seem to be a smoker)
Because tobacco is not a "food" it has different regulations on the type and amount of pesticide/herbicide used in its cultivation. So it should come as no surprise that tobacco farmers us a lot of chemicals in the cultivation of their crop.
In this era of supposed food shortages for what ever reason why don't we maximize our arable land for food production instead of a cancer causing, pollution producing, litter creating product?
Any one else notice how dangerous the downtown streets have becoming this summer with those PIRG peddlers( in the blue t shirts) marauding about!
You can't get anywhere with out them swarming you like nats.
I just wanna shout "LEAVE ME ALONE!" and run!
Problem with cigs is that they're on fire, which makes them dangerous in the trash and not so easy to carry around for 30 min.
Not defending, just saying...
In this era of supposed food shortages for what ever reason why don't we maximize our arable land for food production instead of a cancer causing, pollution producing, litter creating product?
Not to defend giant tobacco farms but I believe that raising cattle for beef is the more destructive wasteful of the two. Considering the grain they use and the amount of space they need and several other factors. But alas cheeseburgers are delicious.
I hear you mikely1 - "when the high and mighties of the world unite".
As a smoker and a litter-hater, I am damned sick of people using smokers as the proverbial pariah for all the woes and discontent of society. Jack up the price, kick em out of the public, bitch about the litter, down with the cancer spreader-ers...
Stop being so perfect and leave us smokers to the 5 minutes of freedom we have to think about how to be more high and mightier than you. Then we'll toss our proverbial butts in the trash and get back to work.
@Navin:
I will need to disagree with you on this. Not the fact that way to much of our society's caloric intake comes from meat and is inefficient but the fact that there is -0- caloric production from all of the acres of tobacco (Someone will post a recipe for a delicious tobacco leaf salad, but as far as I know tobacco is only used for smoking and chew).
An efficiency measure for agriculture would be something like calories/planted acre. Since tobacco produces no calories its efficiency is 0 which is less than whatever the efficiency is for beef.
Stop being so perfect and leave us smokers to the 5 minutes of freedom we have to think about how to be more high and mightier than you
Be free and do as you wish. Just don't bother me with your pollution and we will be fine. Yeah, there is pollution everwhere--buses, cars, hot-aired blog pests--but some things can be helped more than others. Wanting to avoid cigarette pollution is hardly high and mighty.
Then we'll toss our proverbial butts in the trash and get back to work.
Glad to hear it. You are one of the good smokers. Now, what about your pals in the smoking circle? Those butts are coming from somewhere.
...I am damned sick of people using smokers as the proverbial pariah for all the woes and discontent of society.
So am I. But I damn sick of smokers acting like their "right" to pollute other people's lungs is akin to some freaking civil rights struggle, or a movement against some tyrannical regime ala East Germany, and then huffing and puffing whenever somone complains that they'd rather not be part of your dirty habit.
See--we agree.
tothecurb - it's not hard to do what I generally did (though I occasionally tossed one in the gutter when there weren't better options).
When your cigarette is done, look for garbage can. Push the hot end against a metal service, twist a bit. If it appears out (no red embers, no smoke), touch it. If it its cool to the touch, toss it in the garbage can.
If not, push in, and put the fire out.
Not that hard. A little bit of tobacco, maybe some paper end up on the ground, but the butt ends up in the trash. The tobacco and paper quickly biodegrade.
I'm glad we agree matilda, but I want you to acknowledge that we all have dirty habits. Some of them more dirty than others and some of them more public than others. And I, personally, can do without this particular one.
I'm venting at the Trib mostly. That piece of crap publication has me embarrassed and sick to the stomach lately. Wasn't the article in the "tempo" section, or what passes for "arts & leisure" here? They could have at least run *another* memorial to Mr. Russert.
We all pollute. Some of us just have browner teeth.
yuck!
Dopple,
I wouldn't disagree with that, but I'm saying how much land is devoted exclusively to tobacco vs. livestock. I believe cutting back on livestock would be better if food is the real concern. Think of all it takes to raise animals on a massive level vs. grain or any other crop. Grain consumes water, livestock consumes massive amounts of grain AND water (and more vs. food output etc.). I'm far from educated on this subject but I've read some articles on this here and there.
Kings: Agree on the Trib and I acknoweldge we all have our dirty habits.
I guess my general rule is: Don't bother others with dirty habits. Frankly, I don't care if you are junkie (and I am NOT equating smokers with heroin addicts). I only start to care if the junkie litters with needles, acts like a stoned idiot in public, or steals or otherwise harms others to gain drugs--or if I have to start paying excessive amounts of taxpayer dollars to try to cure the junkie of his/her basic weakness.
And thanks for not littering. I appreciate it.
I'll consider letting somebody put out a cig on my arm if we can remove that American Apparel ad with the Liz Phair looking dude touching his gym shorts.
just imagine all the boaters who throw their cig butts directly into the water! at least on the beach there is a chance the butts will get picked up and the toxic chemicals wont seep into the lake.
I'll consider letting somebody put out a cig on my arm if we can remove that American Apparel ad with the Liz Phair looking dude touching his gym shorts.
Adblock Plus and firefox save me again!
I'll consider letting somebody put out a cig on my arm if we can remove that American Apparel ad with the Liz Phair looking dude touching his gym shorts.
Can we put out a cig on Dov Charney's arm every time the ads appear? That'd be great, thanks.
dopplerd,
THANK YOU for posting that. Took me five minutes and now I never have to look at another one of those godawful ads. Chicagoist is practically NSFW right now because of those ads.
Drinking could be considered my dirty habit. Thankfully, like most drinkers, I do not toss my empty bottles on the downtown streets when I am done with them. Sure, people do this, but by and large, most do not. So why do most smokers just toss their butts? It's not that hard.
I was involved in a beach cleaning outing the other day. One task was to count trash receptacles. I forget what the count ended up being, but the end result was that there was a trash bin every 100 feet. With the downtown street corners all having at least 1 trash can, if not 4, and most buildings having cigarette butt receptacles, stop being so fucking lazy and selfish. Doesn't a pile of cigarette butts look gross to you too???
^^The above rant was not directed at anyone in particular.