Cigarette stubs in Bearsden draw complaints from Bearsden in Bloom volunteers.

Discarded cigarette ends which Bearsden in Bloom say they end up cleaning away

Ros Carmichael, Chair of Bearsden in Bloom told the Herald: “Bearsden in Bloom struggles to clear as many discarded cigarette stubs as possible during twice monthly litter picking sessions.”

She sent in a picture of the flower bed just outside the Hub, asking “A flower bed or an ashtray?”

As it is council policy for no smoking on their premises, receptacles for stubs are not provided.

She went on: “From the number discarded randomly on public ground, it seems smokers do not consider cigarette ends to be litter or give thought to the pollution they cause. Few, if any, smokers seem to carry a personal, pocket ashtray, preferring to share their mess with the general public.

“Bearsden appears to contribute its fair share to the four thousand million stubs discarded in Scotland each year, as quoted by ASH.

“On looking into the matter further, I found that National Geographic quote cigarette ends to be the world’s most littered plastic item. It claims the filter as being 98% cellulose acetate plastic fibres which take up to 10 years to degrade into progressively smaller plastic pieces, meanwhile leaking toxins, such as cadmium, arsenic, lead and nicotine into the soil, the water table, rivers and the oceans.”

Environmental field researchers report that it is not uncommon to find cigarette ends inside dead fish, sea birds and turtles.

The World Health Organisation quotes between 340 and 680 million tons of cigarette ends in the oceans.

For those who choose to smoke, consideration for others and the rest of the world, would surely lead them to use designated bins or pocket ashtrays so their debris can be dealt with more safely, and where they cannot harm the environment.

Ros continued: “And the cynical manufacturers, with their marketing of the spurious safety of filters on cigarettes, adds cost to smokers with useless add-on plastic and long-term cost to our planet.”

“However, all we can do is to try and keep our wee bit of the planet in Bearsden a bit cleaner and greener for everyone to enjoy.”