Cigarette Butts are the #1 most littered object in the world. The toxins in a cigarette butt, tar and nicotine, can have a significant impact on the environment by flowing into our water, affecting wildlife and occasionally causing fires. Yet, even the most environmentally aware citizens don’t think twice about tossing their butts on the ground.

Several cities, including New York and San Francisco, have considered implementing a cigarette tax. Unfortunately, taxing a specific population can often lead to protest.

My idea is that each pack of cigarettes should be taxed, and the money collected would go to cleaning up the litter. However, if the pack is returned to a vendor containing cigarette butts, then the tax will be refunded. Also, non-smokers would be encouraged to collect cigarette butts as well and turn them in for a refund.

This would encourage people to clean up the streets, or they can pay the price to have someone else do it. Either way, cigarette butts would slowly be eliminated from our streets.

Facts and information were found at http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/cigbuttimpacts.htm.