Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

nbcnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 236 posts

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#71

Post by code_duck »

darkpuma wrote: post #38
baddox wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure there is some cancer risk from simply smelling the clothes of a smoker, but I would need to see some research of the magnitude of the risk. I would be shocked if it’s enough to even be measurable. I didn’t use the word “right” to imply that any rights were being violated. I used it to claim what I believe to be reasonable expectations for other people’s behavior, which seems like a natural definition for wha…

> inconsiderate: thoughtlessly causing hurt or inconvenience to others. Smokers are inconsiderate because they thoughtlessly cause harm or inconvenience to others by smelling offensive. They brush off the objections of all non-smokers and tell the rest of the world to fuck off because they selfishly prefer smoking to not causing olfactory offense.

This is how I feel about almost all scented products - shampoo, air freshener, cologne, incense. However, many people think they are being polite by spreading these offensive chemicals on themselves with the intention of making other people inhale them.

It’s very difficult to explain to people that their scents are making you ill and forcing you to leave the room, rinse your sinuses or stay 5+ feet away from them. Mercifully some workplaces have no-fragrance policies. Elsewhere, my health-driven preferences get absolutely no attention or respect. People get offended and embarrassed especially since they think they are doing this to make themselves more presentable. It is far better to not say anything.

Oddly, cigarette smells and body odor do not bother me at all.

So, given that attitude, hope you don’t use dryer sheets.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#72

Post by headstorm »

darkpuma wrote: post #38
baddox wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure there is some cancer risk from simply smelling the clothes of a smoker, but I would need to see some research of the magnitude of the risk. I would be shocked if it’s enough to even be measurable. I didn’t use the word “right” to imply that any rights were being violated. I used it to claim what I believe to be reasonable expectations for other people’s behavior, which seems like a natural definition for wha…

> inconsiderate: thoughtlessly causing hurt or inconvenience to others. Smokers are inconsiderate because they thoughtlessly cause harm or inconvenience to others by smelling offensive. They brush off the objections of all non-smokers and tell the rest of the world to fuck off because they selfishly prefer smoking to not causing olfactory offense.

Since this comment has gone far afield of the original topic (cigarette butts as litter), I want to see you complain about the inconsiderateness of people wearing perfume and of people that smell of smoke after they sit around campfires.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#73

Post by seriousSmoker »

seer wrote: post #69
seriousSmoker wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because we are trying to die, and simply do not give a fuck. Feed that into your facebook suicide watch/dark tetrad NLP algorithm, and use it as a political impetus for a smoking prohibition bill, and behavior modification after school program. Save the world from it’s final free thought. #YOLO

It is of course rational to throw trash when you don't give a fuck. The parent question is more about why people that do give a fuck otherwise, would flick and stomp their discarded cigarette buts. The question is interesting precisely because it falls outside the output you would get from a heuristic algo of "good people don't litter", "bad people do".

The next time you pass through a public restroom, count how many paper towels are on the floor. It doesn’t matter if it’s male or female. The results are always the same.

If the bathroom provides paper towels, there’s almost always a non-zero quantity of wet paper towels stuck to the floor. If the bathroom only has electric hot air hand driers, there will be none.

How do the paper towels get on the floor? The bathroom likely gets cleaned once a day. Probably at night.

So, the next day, someone, anyone, drops the first paper towel of the day for some reason, any reason, and leaves it there. It stays there the rest of the day. More follow, all accumulating until someone cleans the whole bathroom at the end of the day.

Who are these people? Why don’t they just fucking pick up the paper towels they careless permit to fall onto the floor?

But to complain about such things is to scream at the tide. You can admit that paper towels are not something a public restroom should put into the hands of random strangers who have no incentive to change their behavior. You can place paper towels within reach, and throw people in jail for their messy carelessness, or you can hire a janitor.

Or you can just let wet paper towels cover the floor, absorbing every form of moisture available on the floor of a typical public restroom.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#74

Post by shireboy »

kevcampb wrote: post #60

The Ocean Conservancy report has been cited by quite a few articles now, and it pains me every time I see it. As ever, the conclusions drawn are quite misleading. 1) The source of the data is cleanup on beaches, not ocean trash. If anything it's more likely to be representative of items discarded on beaches or waterways. 2) Cigarette butts are greatest purely in number of individual pieces, not in terms of weight or…

Then it was also 10 Asian rivers that account for most plastic: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plas...

I guess I understand it is a hard problem to calculate, but it is an area where I wish the approach was more reasoned and less governed by fad and hype. Sure clean and prevent straws and cigarette butts if that’s really a problem, but divvy our resources in proportion to where data says the issues are...

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#75

Post by snarfy »

woodruffw wrote: post #5

Only tangentially related, but I am continually astonished by the absence of any sort of social norms surrounding cigarette butt disposal. I have (otherwise environmentally conscious!) friends who smoke, and I've personally witnessed them flick their cigarettes into gutters and on streets. As a serious question, without judgment: are there any smokers on HN who can explain the phenomenon?

People are assholes to smokers. Like, it's socially acceptable to be assholes to smokers these days.

I've had random people on an almost daily basis harass me for smoking. Flicking my butts on the ground was a big fuck you to all of the non smokers that harassed me.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#76

Post by loa-in-backup »

snarfy wrote: post #75
woodruffw wrote: post #5

Only tangentially related, but I am continually astonished by the absence of any sort of social norms surrounding cigarette butt disposal. I have (otherwise environmentally conscious!) friends who smoke, and I've personally witnessed them flick their cigarettes into gutters and on streets. As a serious question, without judgment: are there any smokers on HN who can explain the phenomenon?

People are assholes to smokers. Like, it's socially acceptable to be assholes to smokers these days. I've had random people on an almost daily basis harass me for smoking. Flicking my butts on the ground was a big fuck you to all of the non smokers that harassed me.

Yeah, see - I've had a great deal of experience with smokers, including my close friend past me. People who smoke get high on tobacco, which makes them feel good. Right? Well, it makes them feel good even when they're crapping all around them and then they're all surprised.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#77

Post by slazaro »

snarfy wrote: post #75
woodruffw wrote: post #5

Only tangentially related, but I am continually astonished by the absence of any sort of social norms surrounding cigarette butt disposal. I have (otherwise environmentally conscious!) friends who smoke, and I've personally witnessed them flick their cigarettes into gutters and on streets. As a serious question, without judgment: are there any smokers on HN who can explain the phenomenon?

People are assholes to smokers. Like, it's socially acceptable to be assholes to smokers these days. I've had random people on an almost daily basis harass me for smoking. Flicking my butts on the ground was a big fuck you to all of the non smokers that harassed me.

Being an asshole to assholes... makes you an asshole regardless.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#78

Post by snarfy »

vbuwivbiu wrote: post #64
woodruffw wrote: post #5

Only tangentially related, but I am continually astonished by the absence of any sort of social norms surrounding cigarette butt disposal. I have (otherwise environmentally conscious!) friends who smoke, and I've personally witnessed them flick their cigarettes into gutters and on streets. As a serious question, without judgment: are there any smokers on HN who can explain the phenomenon?

Unless people object to it, the behavior will continue. I'm that guy who'll tell someone who drops a cigarette butt to pick it up; to which the response is usually indignation or they ignore me, I figure at least I annoyed them.

> I figure at least I annoyed them

And this is why they continue to do it. You get a response of indignation when you order random strangers in a free society how to behave. You'll get better results if you use guilt instead of demands.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#79

Post by ada1981 »

I wonder what a world where molecular level tagging of products combined with penalties for illegal disposal would look like?

I’ve also been seeing JUUL butts / fake USB drives piling up all over NYC.

They really ought to have a desposit or recycling program for those.

Re: Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash

#80

Post by headstorm »

code_duck wrote: post #71
darkpuma wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> inconsiderate: thoughtlessly causing hurt or inconvenience to others. Smokers are inconsiderate because they thoughtlessly cause harm or inconvenience to others by smelling offensive. They brush off the objections of all non-smokers and tell the rest of the world to fuck off because they selfishly prefer smoking to not causing olfactory offense.

This is how I feel about almost all scented products - shampoo, air freshener, cologne, incense. However, many people think they are being polite by spreading these offensive chemicals on themselves with the intention of making other people inhale them. It’s very difficult to explain to people that their scents are making you ill and forcing you to leave the room, rinse your sinuses or stay 5+ feet away from them. Me…

I couldn't agree more!
Post reply on HN