Small, intrusive, highly pollutants: i cigarette butts I’m one of those wastes you find everywhere, in monstrous numbers, and at the same time, despite everything, very little is said. While they represent one of the elements of greatest degradation of the territory and of the environment, both rural and urban.
Roberto LongoVicenza referent of Plastic Free and founder of the group Happy trees he collected them about 80 kilos in 2022, only in the city of Vicenza. A mountain of waste that coexists with us in our urban environment and in almost everyone’s disinterest.
Is 80 kilos in a year a good figure?
“I actually collected them in just over six months since I started in May of 2022”.
Why did you decide to do this?
“As an association we have been engaged for some time in the defense of the environment and our territory with which we are literally in love. So we try to organize cleaning events, recovery of abandoned waste, especially disposable plastic. When events are organized in the city, as in Vicenza, obviously there is no fighting against the abandonment of carcasses, metals, bricks, plastics, bags, food and so on, as happens in the countryside, on the beach, or on the banks of a river. So our collection focuses on what we mostly find, especially cigarette butts which are a real scourge. Also because it takes on average almost 15 years to degrade, in the meantime releasing many polluted substances. Not only that: some birds mistake them for food, then ingest them and unfortunately suffocate to death. Therefore, collecting butts, or better still, not releasing them into the environment, means not only defending the territory from degradation but also saving lives.”
Where did he collect this mountain of butts?
“Practically everyone in my neighborhood. I live very close to the historic center, and this harvest of butts is the result of walks with a radius of four/five kilometers at most. After all, it’s quick, given that when you put your effort into this activity, every 30 centimeters you have to stop and pick up a butt, due to the enormous amount of abandonments. A saddening fact, not only because of the pollution and incivility it expresses, but also because someone obviously smoked those cigarettes. A sign that the damage that smoking causes is still not fully understood. Especially among the younger ones.”
What do you mean?
“A large number of these butts have been collected in front of the schools that are in my neighborhood. It is not up to us to wage a battle against smoking, but it is saddening that young and very young people still do not realize the damage that cigarette smoking causes. Another place where I found a very high concentration of cigarette butts is in front of the Revenue Agency”.
And why?
“I don’t know, I’m not an expert. I can only guess it’s due to stress. I don’t smoke and have never smoked, but I have had and have friends who do. Well, they tell me that smoking is done either for pleasure or to combat stress. So I can imagine that the Revenue Agency is one of those places where we certainly don’t go for pleasure, as it is a place where we pay fines or taxes, and therefore the reason should be that of stress”.
Let’s talk about your environmental commitment, what you think about what is happening. Is there more awareness on this issue?
“I think so. Above all, it seems to me that the pandemic has marked a turning point from this point of view. We all found ourselves isolated and this evidently helped us reflect on what was happening around us. I noticed a new desire to commit to the environment. Especially among young people, who are generally very knowledgeable on the subject and very sensitive. In fact, we count on them to ‘educate’ adults to greater awareness. As an association, we try to give them a message of hope: fighting pollution is not only necessary but also possible, given that the vast majority of people have already developed a positive conscience from this point of view. So we must not be discouraged in the face of those few who still continue to ruin our beloved land”.
What are the Happy trees?
“We follow the ideas of Stephen Mancuso about the need to reforest the earth to combat climate change. So we have to plant as many trees as possible. So we came up with some prizes: for every 5 kilos of waste collected, we plant a tree. For example, I ‘won’ 15 with cigarette butts. Not bad!”.