Currents >> Current Actions >> Hold On To Your Butt Current Events | Current Actions | Beach Cleanups | Chapter Meetings | Past Events Our Chapter, along with I Love a Clean San Diego, the American Heart Association and other organizations fighting cigarette litter, held a press conference with the Californian Highway Patrol (CHP) and San Diego Fire Department to announce that the CHP is cracking down on smokers who throw their butts out the car window while driving. The CHP joined our coalition efforts by setting up a hotline number that people can call if they see cigarette butts being tossed onto our streets and highways. After the phone call is received, the CHP will send a warning letter to the alleged violator. The hotline number, 1-800-NOSMOKE, has already been successful! In the past week, the CHP has received over 100 phone calls. Our Chapter has been working on our Hold On To Your Butt campaign for years and we are delighted to be part of such a broad-based coalition. Sign On San Diego article North County Times article Voice Of San Diego article NBC San Diego article DID YOU KNOW? Cigarette butts are the most littered item in The United States and the world. Over two billion cigarette butts get tossed everyday. That's an average of two cigarette butts daily from each of earth's 1.2 billion smokers. It is estimated that Americans toss more than 175 million pounds of cigarette butts out every year. These butts are frequently cast onto the sidewalk and streets and then pushed into storm drains that flow to streams, rivers, bays, lagoons and ultimately the ocean. At beach cleanups, cigarette butts are the most common form of trash found (typically accounting for one in every five items collected). The cigarette filter was designed to trap the toxic chemicals in the cigarette smoke from entering the smoker's body. When submerged in water, the toxic chemicals trapped in the filter leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many forms of aquatic life. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with an estimated 4.5 trillion butts (worldwide) littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up! Over 99% of cigarettes are now smoked outside. 18% of all litter dropped to the ground is washed into streams, rivers, lakes and the ocean by storm water runoff. Cigarette butts, are little and lightweight and are the first to get carried away into our waterways.0 Studies indicate that since we have enacted indoor smoking bans, more cigarette butts are being tossed directly into the environment. Unfortunately, this means that ecosystems have a higher chance of being affected by cigarette butts. Biologists have found butts in the stomachs of young birds, sea turtles and other marine creatures. Cigarette butts can cause other environmental problems, such as fires. For example, a cigarette butt was the possible cause of an 11,000 acre fire in San Diego in January 2001. Many smokers incorrectly believe that cigarette filters are made of biodegradable cotton. In fact, cigarette filters are made of plastic cellulose acetate, and can take 15 years to decompose. Ultimately, the Surfrider Foundation is calling for better enforcement of laws against cigarette butt littering; additional taxes on tobacco products specifically earmarked for clean-up efforts; more effort on the part of tobacco companies to improve the biodegradability of filters, reduce packaging waste and educate consumers about the impacts of tobacco waste on the environment; and more local involvement from governments and businesses to reduce cigarette littering by supplying ashtrays and other "disposal mechanisms" at building entrances.