Smoke em while ya got em

I cannot stand the piles of butts on the side of the road. It appears alot of them eventually make it into our waterways.

June 7, 2007 — Smokers are littering shorelines and waterways worldwide with millions of cigarettes, and their filters topped the list of trash items culled during last year's annual international coastal cleanup, according to a new report.

More than 350,000 volunteers removed about 7 million pounds of debris from 34,500 miles of coastlines and waterways, along with ocean, river and lake bottoms, The Ocean Conservancy said in the report, released Thursday.

Sixty-eight countries participated in the daylong cleanup last September. This year's cleanup is set for Sept. 15.

Of the 7.7 million items of debris collected worldwide in 2006, cigarettes and cigarette butts accounted for roughly 1.9 million, the sixth consecutive year they have topped the list. Coming in second at about 768,000 items were food wrappers and containers that can be extremely dangerous to wildlife.

I could never understand why people smoke when they are out in the beautiful outdoors and waterways. I wish there was a way to hypnotize smokers so they wouldnt smoke lol

Errrrr!!!! my biggest pet peave is seeing cigarette butts being thrown out of cars. You smoked the stupid thing, put it in your ash tray and clean it up when you get home.

cigarette butts should have a 50 cent deposit EACH paid when you buy the smokes and when you return the butts you get your deposit back...so at least bums and kids could pick them up and make some money like we used to do as kids with bottles and cans

cigarette butt litter is insane just glance out the window while you are at a left turn light that has a curbing next to you...it is usually choked with butts its so gross and disgusting

somehow they are not percieved as litter by smokers, just look around a campsite...butts everywhere...all around the firepit!!! couldn't they even put them in the fire????

(Message edited by bftskir on June 07, 2007)

(Message edited by bftskir on June 07, 2007)

(Message edited by bftskir on June 07, 2007)

they shouldn't do it in public and it's a shame to see them doing it on the water then throwing it over the side for us to swim with

I still don't understand how smokers consider it to be not littering!

Andy, if they did the recycling thing with butts, I would be one rich mother f'er in CA. No, I don't smoke but there are zillions of butts on the ground in Sacramento. Nice idea...

They probably don't throw the butts into the fire because they are afraid of the toxic fumes that would come from the filters.

that is a good idea. People just need to be responsible and i think the fine should be 500.00 for anyone cought littering and I think that there should be a reward of 100.00 if you catch a smoker throwing a butt out the window or boat and they get fined and pay it. How about that. We would all have camera;s on the dash

How about just making cigarettes illegal. If it just saves one kid from starting smoking it would be worth it. People could still get them from the black market, and if they get caught we could throw them in prison. You could have nicotine screening so they can't get jobs if they don't pass the test.

No, the poor need healthcare in CA and I am almost sure that is where the cigarette taxes come from.... I could be wrong but they are taxed a lot here....

If you want to smoke fine, its the trash out the window that gets me. I toot my horn every time I see it. It's rude.

I once gave someone 5 gallons of fuel off my dock because he had run out. The guy lit up then threw the butt into the water. Aside from littering my beach where we all were swimming, we were refueling from a can! He got an earful.

(Message edited by srock on June 07, 2007)

people who smoke smell like garbage.

Tim. He could've thrown the burning cigarette into the gas can and it wouldn't have ignited. The cherry from a cigarette's not hot enough to ignite gas. It looks cool in the movies but it doesn't work.

The spark/flame from a cigarette lighter or match will obviously ignite gas but not the cigarette itself.

What a bunch of whining nimby's!

Is a "whining nimby" anything like a mamby pamby?

Every time I go to the beach I feel like I am sitting in a big ash tray! Thanks a lot for that all you A-hole smokers. It does give me a slight feeling of satisfaction knowing most of you smokers will spend your last few days at the hospital gasping for air but not getting any. I am sure your families will appreciate that. I really feel for the families of the non smokers that you take with you with via second hand smoke.

well said mike
i hate bein around ppl smoking
its effin nasty and littering makes it even worse
smoking sucks

Im a kid, and whenever i see someone smoking i just start coughing as hard as i can right in front of them. They usually stop, but then throw there cigerate on the ground. i hate smokers

Maybe the small amount of fuel that dripped from the spout could have ignited. It was still rude and thoughtless.

the cigarette butts are annoying for sure. what makes me even more angry are empty bottle rockets and fragments of sparkly "artillery" shells that wash up on shore. everyone cheers for the colorful explosion without thinking once about where the debris ends up. fireworks are just a distraction for the litterers.

1st off all the people who come on my boat bring a soda or gatorade bottle to put their butts in. 2nd making cigarettes illegal goes against our free society. You can't make something illegal cause you don't like it. I'm not defending smoking by any means anyone that smokes is a dumb A$$ for sure. I think that you need to be careful on which freedoms you take away yours might be next. I'm sure some people think that wakeboarding should be banned worldwide. We will call this person Al Gore. Oh yeah he's a real person. Whoops.

kenneth i'd like to see you confidently standing in a bucket of gasoline while we all pitch lit butts into it...

I have access to the local lake through a deeded lot. I manage the maintenance of the lot, and watch as people throw there butts on the ground after I have the lot cleaned up.

alright here it goes. i smoke and i do away with my cigarettes accordingly. they go in empty beer cans or in empty bottles on the boat, but dont profile all of us "a hole smokers" because some of them litter. no one needs to hear all u bitch about how smokers smell, act, look, talk or anything like that. trust me, smokers know its not healthy and obviously dont really care. we know it doesnt smell good, so if u notice, polite "smokers" stand downwind or behind everyone. so until u have met every smoker in the world dont mouth off ignorant nonsense... thank you drive through. let the flaming begin

(Message edited by seansmitty42 on June 08, 2007)

Personally, I don't understand why anyone would smoke these days but to each their own. As long as you're not smoking around me go ahead and keep killing yourself. However, I cannot STAND the rude smokers that toss their cigarette butts on the ground or in the water. I also have an issue with the people at work that take 20 smoke breaks a day and get paid for it.

what are you complainin' about liz? you're posting on wakeworld on company time! hi pot, i'm kettle, you're black!

like i said i could care less about what people have to say about me cause i smoke i dont care. i dont understand why people are vegetarians or why people are gay but thats their deal. i smoke i dont litter and i try to tell people that do to clean it up. and there is no way that smoking will ever be banned in the US

WHO NEEDS GARBAGE CANS. YOU GUYS ARE ALL BABIES

Smoking is stupid, but so is the idea of making it illegal.
If your gonna start making things that are bad for your health illegal my beer will be next, and then I'll have to kill someone!!!!!

Smoking will be banned in certain areas before smoking is illegal and that will not happen because the big tobacco companies will not allow it to happen.

Drinking will not be banned either because too many of us do.

What will happen????? More taxes on items like these.

smoking is already banned everywhere. hell you cant even smoke in some bars. smoking has been in this country since, o i say around the time a bunch of people were still arguing if the world was flat or not

I post on company time while I am still working and doing other things. I'm not away from my desk for 10 minutes at a time 10 times a day.

Speaking of smoking Joe.. did you quit yet??

Seems everyone in Seattle smokes. I love having a lit/glowing butt bounce off the hood of my car driving along the freeway.

I know there are smokers on WW. How many can HONESTLY say they do not throw their butts out the window instead of using the ashtray in their car.

Also why crack the car window to blow the smoke out? You've already inhaled and eventhough the smoke is blown out, the smell will definitely stay in the car.

It is true, some people are conscious of their trash and smoke and I appreciate that.

I would never want somebody to tell not to have a beer because its bad however you will never see me throw the bottle on the ground.

Has anyone ever noticed how much gum is stuck on sidewalks? Its amazing.

i used to smoke (quit about 1.5 years ago) and always put the butts in the celophane, beer can, fire, whatever. never in the lake or out the window. this issue is considerate people vs. inconsiderate people not smokers vs. the world.

Those f67king gum chewers, I tell ya.

I smoke. I like it. I try to be curtious about it. I don't smoke in my home, around my kids, around other peoples kids, around other nonsmokers, around people that are trying to eat.... Have I ever littered a butt? Yes. Do I try not to? Yes. Call me stupid, fine. Call me stupid in person, you won't like the outcome. Mind your own business. What I choose to do is mine.


And a butt will ignite gas vapor.

lol its the smokers vs the gum chewers. im with ya paul. a but will ignite gasoline vapor but usually wont ignite a pool of gas

I wonder how much of it is nicotine gum?

Ever notice how smoking areas are right outside the entrances to buildings where we have to smell that crap? Kind of weird.

Hey thats also where most of the gum is located!

I believe smoking areas are suppose to be 50 feet away from a public entrance. Again, I would not stand right outside a door and smoke. Unfortunalty a lot of smokers do.

I love how smokers think putting butts in cans or bottles is a good solution. Then there is a nasty mixture of beer or soda and cigarette ash and butts that will eventually have to be cleaned up after it spills on the carpet. Or even worse...how many of you have been a victim to sipping a butt filled beverage that you mistakenly thought was yours?

Don't you love it when someone lights up a smoke on your boat?

I tried the patch.....But I couldn't keep the thing lit!

Just kidding quit smoking, stopped littering, much healthier and a better wakeboarder because of it.

Last year I posted on WW that we were going on a houseboat trip at Shasta. A young lady sent me a very nice message stating it was her dream to go houseboating in Shasta. I said what the hell, we have room for one more and I invited her to join the four couples on the trip. When she arrived I discovered that she was a smoker and said OHHH NOOO. She noticed that I was kind of glaring at her smoking, and explained that she picked up after herself, she was cognizant of the direction of wind, etc. In the end she definately added to the enjoyment everybody had on the houseboat. I did not see a single stray cigarette butt, hardly even got a whiff of smoke all weekend. If all smokers were like her I would not have any objection to smoking.

Unfortunately the vast majority of smokers are complete inconsiderate slobs that think the world is their trashcan. Because of this behavior I 100% support of a total smoking ban whenever somebody is beyond the confines of their home. I work in the city and walk by hoardes of smokers on the sidewalk using it as their personal trash can everyday. I don't know a single smoker that is proud of the fact they smoke. I feel it's the sign of weak character. For most, Slob is simply the best description of their lifestyle.

If you smoke try to put yourself in a category I described in the beginning paragraph, it's really just common courtesy to the rest of the world.

its not about considerate vs inconsiderate
nothing but smoking cigarettes produces butts
smokers are the only ones littering these millions of butts EVERYWHERE

why is it always a chick that wants to smoke on the boat?

I always throw my roachs away...