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Thursday, September 3, 2015

Cigarette butts RANT! (Two in one week!)

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One thing that really bothers me is when I see people throw cigarette butts out of their car windows. Whenever we are stopped at a red light and someone in front of me litters like that, I want to get out of my car, knock on their window, tell them, "You dropped something," and hand them their cigarette butt back.

The only reason I don't do this is because I don't want to get punched in the face.

On my run on Saturday, I ran about 1/4 of a mile on a major roadway (not a highway). There was quite a wide shoulder (almost as big as a lane) so I felt completely safe. Also, it wasn't busy at all during this time of day. There wasn't much to look at so I was kind of staring at the ground. I noticed all the cigarette butts along the side of the road. With every step I took, I passed at least 10 butts on the shoulder of the road. 10 butts for every step for a 1/4 of a mile... I am not good at math but that is probably thousands of cigarette butts people just THREW OUT THEIR CAR WINDOW! 

Why do people do that? It's littering! Can't they put it in an ash tray in their car? Is it because a cigarette butt is so small that they think it is no big deal? I guess it is no big deal if one person did it, but so many people do it and it makes our roads and towns look really shitty.

I don't know what this has to do with anything, but I wanted to share this rant with you today!

21 comments:

  1. Drives me crazy, too. Not only littering but really dangerous when you live in a high risk area for fires (which happens a lot in Colorado)

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    1. Oh yes I remember being "out west" this summer and seeing a lot of signs about forest fires. Very, very ignorant and dangerous.

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  2. I hate it too! I mostly just hate that people still smoke cigarettes outside! It's so rude since we know second hand smoke kills. If you really need to smoke cigarettes do it inside your own house with all of the windows and doors closed when no one else is home.

    When I am out running and a puff of smoke from a cigarette gets in my face it makes me SO ANGRY!

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    1. I hate the smell too Kristina. Paul and I went out to eat for our anniversary and we were on a deck overlooking the river. Two people at the table next to us started smoking. They weren't even hiding it. I asked the waitress and apparently that restaurant allows them to smoke outside. :( YUCK! I will not be going back to that place because I would rather eat my food without a side of second hand smoke!

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  3. I hate that too...I think there should be a law against smoking and driving. Seems so unsafe!

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    1. But then I wouldn't be allowed to eat my cereal and drive... ;)

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  4. That's disgusting. I always thought it would be fun, if I saw someone littering, to go dump all my garbage in their car and ask how they like it. But like you I don't want to get punched in the face so...

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    1. Well if you ever do confront someone, please tell us about it! I wish I had the courage to do it!!!

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  5. You know what's even worse than that? People who put their cigarette butts in the piles of snow along the roads during the winter. Because, hey, they just go into the snow and no one has to see them, right? Except then Spring comes and on the first thaw of the year, those snow piles melt down and the sidewalks are COVERED in cigarette butts and litter. It's absolutely disgusting and it makes me so mad at people. Did you really think that snow wouldn't melt one day? Oh wait, you did, you just didn't care because that's months away so you can easily dissociate yourself from your gross littering. Sigh.

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    1. Wow that is horrible. I wonder why it is so hard to put it in your car's ash tray or keep some sort of paper cup with water in it in your car specifically for your cigarettes? It's really NOT that hard! I mean, sometimes I eat a protein bar on the way home from work and I don't throw the wrapper out the window. I put it in a trash bag in my car! People are animals.

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  6. Totally gross. I heard there's a youtube video out there of a lady who stands on the corner of a busy New York intersection and pitches people's litter right back at them through their car windows when they litter it onto the street. I heard it's awesome and I keep forgetting to check it out!

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    1. Darn I wish I would have found that and put it in this post!!!

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  7. OH MY GOD. YAS. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS. YAS. Just yesterday, I pulled up at the local grocery store after my run and I didn't even get out of my car yet and I smelled cigarette smoke. I watched a woman finish sucking back her nasty dragon stick, and toss the butt on the ground. I cringed. Why is this okay?!?!? IT IS LITTERING!

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    1. Okay I am going to send a prize to the first reader who confronts someone who litters their cigarette butt!!! Hahaha

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  8. It is absolutely littering! I read that it takes a ridiculously long time for cigarette butts decompose because of the filter...ugh. The kids and I did roadside cleanup this year on Earth day, and for a one mile stretch of country road there was VERY CLEARLY one person who stopped at McDonald's had a breakfast sandwich, coffee, and disposed of his bag of tabacco spit by throwing it out the car window. We picked up about 50 of them. I was FURIOUS, because it was clearly one idiot who feels like they could litter on a country road. DISGUSTING. I wanted to put up a sign...

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    1. Ew that is soooooo gross. :( That is nice that you guys did roadside clean up for Earth Day.

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  9. It's gross because those butts are full of chemicals. Disgusting.

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  10. I read an article once about how smokers are some of the world's worst litterers. And sometimes when they throw the butts out their windows, they go into other cars because their windows are open too! It makes me so mad. Birds eat those :(

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  11. Oh I'm so annoyed by the same thing!!! I'm always weirdly nervous that it's going to land on the hood of my car and catch a fire, yes I'm crazy like that.

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