Study: Cigarette Butts—Not Plastic Straws—Are The Worst Contaminant of Oceans

[SheilaNaGig]

I found a clay pipe inside my window surround - left there by the builder in the late 19thC.

My dad found a dozen empty evaporated milk cans from the Victorian era behind some brickwork in the basement, with the lids still attached but torn back with ragged edges. It was an old Victorian mansion block in Kensington. Y’know, where they’d have had serpents in the basement, Upstairs Downstairs style. It looked like someone had snaffled the evaporated milk as a late night treat and hidden the evidence.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Good job it wasn't a curse cat.

Or a witch bottle.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

A lot of the waterfront taverns did them as promotional items, especially in later years. These are the more ornate ones.

They could be quite long so they were liable to break fairly easily.

Apparently, they used to refer to drinking a pipe of tobacco. It’s assumed that folk would kinda swallow down the inhaled smoke. But when someone made a clay pipe and tried it out, there was so much spittle involved that it explained that reference.


Ew!

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Oh, by the way....


While we’re talking about our personal contribution to the plastic problem, nanopartcles from synthetic fabrics that get washed in normal laundry is also a huge issue.

Fleece is especially bad, but I think that velour stuff would also be terrible, and synthetic velvet too. Anything that’s plush. But any synthetic fabric that wears out over time.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Oh, by the way....


While we’re talking about our personal contribution to the plastic problem, nanopartcles from synthetic fabrics that get washed in normal laundry is also a huge issue.

Fleece is especially bad, but I think that velour stuff would also be terrible, and synthetic velvet too. Anything that’s plush. But any synthetic fabric that wears out over time.

Some personal care products have little plastic beads in them that end up in the water. The Obama administration banned them after it became clear they were an issue, but the Trump administration could reverse that just because it was an Obama-era policy. They're probably still used in some places. Even if you ban something it can take a while to work its way out of the consumer product stream. A company will sometimes take a product banned in one country and just transfer that stock to a different country. This was done in the 80's with some baby formula. They just sold it in Africa, instead of the US.

The US bans soaps, bodywashes, and toothpastes containing a harmful ingredient

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Some personal care products have little plastic beads in them that end up in the water. The Obama administration banned them after it became clear they were an issue, but the Trump administration could reverse that just because it was an Obama-era policy.

The US bans soaps, bodywashes, and toothpastes containing a harmful ingredient

Yeah, that’s been a big thing here too.

The UK ban finally came in in January this year.

But Proctor & Gambale etc. are still marketing and selling that stuff everywhere else.

It really feels like legislation on environmental issues that effect the entirety of the oceans should be adopted by every nation.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

It really feels like legislation on environmental issues that effect the entirety of the oceans should be adopted by every nation.

I tend to agree with you. If its a world-wide issue then it should be dealt with on a world-wide basis. I asked once who it is that's responsible for protecting endangered species across the world. I was told "anyone, everyone, and no one." We can see how that's working out.

 

[Saul Goodman]

My dad found a dozen empty evaporated milk cans from the Victorian era behind some brickwork in the basement, with the lids still attached but torn back with ragged edges. It was an old Victorian mansion block in Kensington. Y’know, where they’d have had serpents in the basement, Upstairs Downstairs style. It looked like someone had snaffled the evaporated milk as a late night treat and hidden the evidence.

My dad bought a property that had wood cladding all around the inside walls. We removed all of the cladding and one particular wall was stuffed with loads of balled up old newspapers which were around 100 years old, and there were dozens of little round black balls of about 5 or 6mm diameter wrapped in each of the newspapers. It took me a while to work out that the little black balls were balls of dehydrated faeces that someone had been curling out into newspapers and insulating the building with for many years

 

[SheilaNaGig]

My dad bought a property that had wood cladding all around the inside walls. We removed all of the cladding and one particular wall was stuffed with loads of balled up old newspapers which were around 100 years old, and there were dozens of little round black balls of about 5 or 6mm diameter wrapped in each of the newspapers. It took me a while to work out that the little black balls were balls of dehydrated faeces that someone had been curling out into newspapers and insulating the building with for many years

 

[Saul Goodman]

True story

 

[Supine]

 

[mauvais]

I mean, that's what wattle & daub is. Lath and plaster isn't much more advanced either.

 

[gentlegreen]

This lady finds the pipes all along the Thames.

mudlarking finds

I'm already a fan

 

[weltweit]

I remember exploring the cliffs at Land's End and being disgusted to find that every nook and cranny had hundreds of cigarette buts in it, they were everywhere, it was quite revolting.

 

[gentlegreen]

I remember exploring the cliffs at Land's End and being disgusted to find that every nook and cranny had hundreds of cigarette buts in it, they were everywhere, it was quite revolting.

Plus chewing gum, presumably - the two seem to go together.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I used to be one of those smokers who never thought twice about throwing a fag butt out the car window, stepping it out on the street, or in the grass or sand. I know it sounds completely implausible but I’d never considered there was anything wrong with it until I read a thread here

Ditto.

 

[spanglechick]

My dad found a dozen empty evaporated milk cans from the Victorian era behind some brickwork in the basement, with the lids still attached but torn back with ragged edges. It was an old Victorian mansion block in Kensington. Y’know, where they’d have had serpents in the basement, Upstairs Downstairs style. It looked like someone had snaffled the evaporated milk as a late night treat and hidden the evidence.

They had SERPENTS in the basement??

 

[SpookyFrank]

How sure are we that humans are responsible, i.e. that it's anthropogenic fag waste? It seems to me to be equally possible that they were dumped there by, for example, chain-smoking whales. A whale's mouth could probably hold at least a dozen cigarettes at any one time, something that 'scientists' really ought to look into.

How do you suppose a whale would light a fag, or twelve for that matter? Leaving aside the whole 'being underwater' aspect, have you ever tried to operate a zippo with flippers?

Presumably some specialised device is required. A 'flippo' if you will.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

They had SERPENTS in the basement??

 

[SheilaNaGig]

They had SERPENTS in the basement??

I sometimes wonder what the result will be of all these autocorrect events when the machines finally develop autonomous self awareness.

 

[mauvais]

How do you suppose a whale would light a fag, or twelve for that matter? Leaving aside the whole 'being underwater' aspect, have you ever tried to operate a zippo with flippers?

Presumably some specialised device is required. A 'flippo' if you will.

They wouldn't smoke them underwater. That'd be both absurd, and a breach of the Health Act 2006, being as the underwater realm is classified as a workplace for a number of different species, such as the squid.

 

[DotCommunist]

roaches are still biodegradable though.

 

[pesh]

roaches are still biodegradable though.

The Kiwis have taken roaches one step further...

These Biodegradable Cigarette Filters Will Grow Into a Tree - Goodnet

Their handmade filters are 100 percent organic, biodegradable, and non-addictive, and are sold alongside a similarly improved book of rolling papers. When disposed of, the butt degrades in a matter of days and gives root to basil, New Zealand lawn grass, rosemary, or thyme.

 

[weltweit]

Plus chewing gum, presumably - the two seem to go together.

Chewing gum I see mainly on the paved areas of town car parks and shopping precincts, horrible stuff, and loads of it!

 

[StoneRoad]

When I catch the clown that thought it was funny to stuff their lunch wrappers and dead fag butts in one of my wildlife shelters there will be words ...

 

[Supine]

When I catch the clown that thought it was funny to stuff their lunch wrappers and dead fag butts in one of my wildlife shelters there will be words ...

Sounds like crack squirrels to me