The City of Farmington’s Green Team develops strategies and environmental programs to preserve and protect our natural resources and reduce our environmental impact through education and promotion.

The Team volunteered to collect cigarette litter from downtown sidewalks for one hour and picked up 3,765 cigarette butts during the project. Butts were counted in order to use the information to provide education about water quality and downtown beautification.

In the past decade, cigarette smoking in America has decreased 28%, yet cigarette butts remain the most littered item in the U.S. and across the globe. Dropping cigarette butts to the ground, putting them in planters, and disposing of them in waterways is littering.

Why do smokers litter? Mostly, it’s lack of awareness about the environmental impact and insufficient ash receptacles. Farmington residents may not be aware that several ash receptacles are available outside City buildings and at some downtown businesses. New ordinances are also moving more smokers outdoors or to designated areas and if receptacles are not available in those areas littering can occur.

Cigarette butt litter creates blight. It accumulates in gutters and outside doorways. Increasing amounts of litter in a business district or recreation areas create a sense that no one cares, leading to more community disorder and crime.

Cigarette butts don’t disappear. About 95% of cigarette filters are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic which does not quickly degrade and can persist in the environment. Filters are harmful to waterways and wildlife. About 18% of litter, traveling primarily through storm water systems, ends up in local streams, rivers, and waterways. Nearly 80% of marine debris comes from land-based sources. Cigarette butt litter poses a hazard to animals and marine life when they mistake filters for food.

Source: See Quick Links

Quick Links

Prevent Cigarette Litter

Farmington Cigarette Receptacles

Keep America Beautiful

The cigarette butt pictured is in a downtown Farmington stormdrain; butts can travel through sewers and storm drains on their way to rivers and other bodies of water.