Most people are aware that tobacco causes tremendous harm to human health. Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that the tobacco industry also causes a lot of damage to the environment. From growing tobacco plants to disposal of butts and packaging, the life cycle of a cigarette creates a lot of pollution. Tobacco causes environmental damage where it is used as well as where it is produced. Burning tobacco is the main source of indoor air pollution in the developed world. Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, including 50 that are known to cause cancer.
On average, a tree is cut down for every 300 cigarettes (about a two-week supply for a pack-a-day smoker). A cigarette-manufacturing machine uses four miles of paper per hour to roll and package cigarettes. Tobacco cultivation involves a great deal of pesticides, which are used in the early stages of tobacco growth. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers poison farm workers, seep into the soil and pollute waterways and ecological systems, and poison livestock and food crops. In many poorer countries where food is already in short supply, tobacco companies encourage local farmers to grow tobacco instead of food. Sometimes this results in even less food being available for people. Cigarette butts eventually end up in rivers, lakes and the ocean from city streets and through storm drains. Animals, birds and fish eat them by mistake and they are harmed. Cigarette butts take an average of 25 years to decompose. It is estimated that several trillion-cigarette butts are littered worldwide each year.
So if you smoke you are making yourself prone to cancer, lung disease and other illnesses. People exposed to second hand smoke can develop heart disease, cancers, asthma and other breathing problems. Let’s put aside all the health issues for a moment. It is time to butt out and help the earth out, you are not just polluting your body, you’re polluting the environment and the air other’s breath. This is an often-overlooked contributor to the effects of environmental damage. Smoke from cigarettes also contains greenhouse gases. Cigarette smoke contains carbon dioxide and methane. Smoking worldwide releases about 2.6 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide in the air every year. It also releases about 5.2 billion kilograms of methane every year. Tobacco growing, curing, and smoking, all add to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Next time you take a puff of that cigarette or tobacco product think of the environmental damage that went into making that cigarette.