By Jesse Watson
Worldwide, there are over 1.1 billion people who smoke cigarettes. Every year, these 1.1 billion smokers discard 4.5 trillion cigarette butts. All of this litter has to go somewhere, and unfortunately, the majority of these butts are not being disposed of properly. In a 2006 study by the Ocean Conservancy, cigarette filters are listed as the number one debris item found worldwide, constituting 24.7% of all total collected debris. What’s worse is that these butts can take up to 15 years to degrade completely. During this slow degradation process, cellulose acetate and carbon particles—both known to cause cancer in humans—leach into our soil and water supply.
Fortunately, the future doesn’t have to perpetuate the past. A new company, greenbutts, is revolutionizing the way we make and dispose of cigarette butts. This San Diego company has created a cigarette filter that is made entirely of organic cotton and natural de-gummed hemp. There is no synthetic glue used in the process either; wheat flour and water hold the filter elements together. This new filter design makes for a cigarette butt that is 100% compostable. But greenbutts doesn’t stop at cotton and hemp—they are also manufacturing filters that contain grass, flower, or even tree seeds. This means that if you place your used butt in soil rather than an ashtray, you can grow a plant, creating life rather than refuse. And even if you choose to throw away your butts rather than planting them, at least you can be confident they will biodegrade safely and naturally.
In a world that is quickly replacing green with gray, imagine the effect these seed-containing filters could have on the environment. If even a quarter of all cigarettes produced worldwide were able to integrate this innovation into their design, there would be the potential for a over a trillion new flowers and trees to be planted every year. And while ameliorating the largest source of litter in the world, greenbutts would be going a long way in changing how we think about cigarettes.