KEEP WHITE SETTLEMENT BEAUTIFUL

                                                      Smoked Out

Did you know that 32% of litter found in storm drains are tobacco products? This is primarily due to discarded cigarette butts. Cigarette butts aren’t considered litter to most people. When you think of litter, most of us focus on the usual suspects: plastic straws, coffee cups, plastic bags, etc. But the reality is that cigarette butts are one of the most littered items on Earth. You have probably witnessed someone throwing a cigarette butt on the ground or out of a car window. Some people think it is safer to extinguish the cigarette if they toss it outside or down a storm drain or into a body of water, but doing this causes harm to the environment and to wildlife. Items in storm drains or on the ground can get washed into local waterways, affecting water quality and the creatures that live in and drink from the water source. If you smoke, properly discard of cigarette butts. Get a portable ashtray for your vehicle so you have a place to discard your cigarette butts even when you’re on the go

Problems With Plastic 

While we use them briefly single use plastic such as plastic bags and food wrappers cause major problems in the environment. It takes a person maybe thirty minutes to unload groceries or eat a fast food lunch but the plastic stays in the environment for hundreds of years. Yearly we have over 8 million tons of plastic waste spill into our waterways and oceans. They can contain additives that make them durable but it will also extend the life of the plastic product. When the plastic product then becomes litter it takes up to 400 years to breakdown. Aquatic life can get tangled in six pack rings and fishing gear, and plastic bags cause aquatic life to starve to death.  Other animals consume plastic which also cause severe damage and possible death. Plastic bags start out as fossil fuels and end up as deadly waste in landfills and the ocean. Birds often mistake shredded plastic bags for food, filling their stomachs with toxic debris. Microplastics are also consumed by people through food and in the air.  Americans use an average of 365 plastic bags per person per year. Please practice waste prevention. Reuse bags whenever possible and but reusable bags. Help us Keep White Settlement Beautiful.