61–70 of 134 posts
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Is it tho? Coffee cups are made of paper. Cigarette butts are a plastic foam embedded with a multitude of carcinogens.
Wrong. Cigarette filters are made from cellulose.
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There is a school of thought that less trash cans reduces litter. I am a little skeptical of the idea but I see the point.
I think it’s mostly culture. Burning man has zero trash cans and pretty damn close to zero litter. Living in SF is like living inside a garbage dump combined with a sewer. It’s insane.
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One data point: litter bins (public trash cans) were all removed from Central London decades ago because terrorists began planting bombs in them. Afaik they have been restored in recent years but the cultural memory of having to pack your trash home remains.
This is the same reason there are so few in Tokyo: https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/trash-cans-japan-garbag...
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Most of the people I see litter in SF already have zero social credit and don't look like they're trying to earn any.
I'm imagining a future where you can inject drugs using govt provided syringes while defecating in the street no problem, but if you drop a cigarette butt we'll track you down and arrest you for littering.
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I have a dog, and when we're walking around I always notice all the cigarette butts on the ground (because my dog tries to eat everything off the ground so I have to watch). It doesn't surprise me that so much litter is just tobacco products. (Also I live in NYC these days, but I used to live in SF).
And nowadays in NYC I’m seeing discarded plastic vaping things, which is even worse, imo.
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Is it tho? Coffee cups are made of paper. Cigarette butts are a plastic foam embedded with a multitude of carcinogens.
Wrong. Cigarette filters are made from cellulose.
However, a used cigarette butt will additionally contain adhesives and any flavorings as well as some leftover compounds deposited by the smoke. The wikipedia article goes into higher detail on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_filter
Cellulose acetate is only sort-of biodegradable like Cellulose. Here is a study looking at the topic: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10924-010-0258-...
> Cellulose is readily biodegraded by organisms that utilize cellulase enzymes, but due to the additional acetyl groups cellulose acetate requires the presence of esterases for the first step in biodegradation. Once partial deacetylation has been accomplished either by enzymes, or by partial chemical hydrolysis, the polymer’s cellulose backbone is readily biodegraded.
I.e. if you throw butts in an ordinary compost pile, they might not get anywhere for a while.
I am surprised that poop wasn't mentioned. Nor drug paraphernalia. That kills the attractiveness of SF far more than anything else.
Cigarette butts seem to be the most common by count , but what about weight and volume? On the streets of NYC, I don't really notice the cigarettes, but I do notice the enormous amount of plastic bags (much of it stuck in trees), plastic or paper cups, straws, takeout containers. And gum. If you ever look at a sidewalk and see dark splotches [1], that's discarded chewing gum. It's absolutely everywhere. Not as invasi…
DSNY, aka Sanitation, does not pick up trash from commercial businesses, only residencies. Businesses have to hire a private carter. Private carters are notorious for not giving two fucks. They have also been responsible for many pedestrian accidents as well.
I have never really noticed a surge in trash in the streets after DSNY comes by. Though, after schools opened, my house is around the corner from a public school and I see an immediate surge of snack wrappers tossed on my lawn. Same with the building I own near another school, wrapper trash all over.
Cigarette butts seem to be the most common by count , but what about weight and volume? On the streets of NYC, I don't really notice the cigarettes, but I do notice the enormous amount of plastic bags (much of it stuck in trees), plastic or paper cups, straws, takeout containers. And gum. If you ever look at a sidewalk and see dark splotches [1], that's discarded chewing gum. It's absolutely everywhere. Not as invasi…
SF makes NYC look like Disneyland.