posted October 12, 2008
Have you seen the billboards and the TV commercials that say Stop Litter? They say Stop It….Tennessee’s has had enough.
I Googled Stop Litter and found the link to their website. While looking at the information, I saw a link to the state law that was passed in June of 2007. I clicked on it and was amazed at what I read. It says that smokers who throw their cigarette butts on the ground and leave them there (aka litter) can be fined $50.
Yep, that’s what it says….and if I read it correctly, if I see someone throw a cigarette butt on the ground (aka litter) I can turn them in and get a $50 reward. It also says that the driver of a car can be fined if a passenger throws a cigarette butt out the window (aka litters). Those who are fined can choose to send in the fine or go to court….if you send in the fine you can avoid paying court costs and possibly avoid having to pick up trash along the roadways.
I haven’t heard that the police are enforcing the law as strictly as they could, but there may come a time when they do. It does sound pretty nitpicky, but if the police want to enforce it, they 'can' write tickets for it.
For the record, I smoked for over 20 years and learned in the military that cigarette butts are litter. I learned how to “field strip” a cigarette after I was finished smoking it. Basically field stripping is letting the tobacco fall to the ground (making sure the fire is out) and putting the remaining paper and filter in my pocket until I could dispose of it properly. It’s not hard to do, it just requires a desire to not litter.
I personally am glad that I no longer smoke. If you smoke, that’s none of my business…smoke all you want, I really don’t care. If you can read the side of the pack and still choose to do it, go for it.
All I ask is that you not blow smoke near me and don’t throw your cigarette butt on the ground or out your car window when you’re done with it.
There’s an amazing statistic on the Stop Litter website. The state of Tennessee spends more than 11 million taxpayer dollars picking up trash along state roads every year. That doesn’t include what the cities and counties also spend on litter recovery.
I’m not a “tree hugger” but litter does bother me. It should bother everyone, especially when we see how trashy our city is becoming. I work downtown and it amazes me at the trash lining the streets. I see smokers throwing cigarette butts on the sidewalks and along the streets every day. What can these people be thinking? Do they not care or do they not think that it’s littering? Do they think the pressed cotton filter will dissolve? Yeah it will in about a hundred years. Please if you smoke, don’t litter by throwing your cigarette butts on the ground.
Ken Snyder
Chattanooga
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I agree totally, Mr. Snyder. Litter is a huge pet peeve of mine. The notion that you are too lazy to have a litter bag in your car or simply wait until you get somewhere to dispose of the litter properly is beyond my comprehension. Throwing it out your car window shows a lack of home training, filth, and a basic I don't care attitude (let someone else pick it up).
The only thing I can guess is some people think that a cigarette butt is so small it's insignificant. If you take the time to notice the mess on the pavement at busy intersections, where you have to stop at traffic lights, you will see that everyone's little bit of insignificant litter adds up quickly.
I keep a pad of paper and pencil handy in my car and you can bet if I catch you littering you will be reported to the stop litter website.
I do not think anyone is fined, but they are sent a reprimand in the mail. For anyone else wanting to do this, you should get as much information about the incident as possible, date, time of day, street name, car license plate, county of plate, car make, etc.
Ann Williams
Hixson
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I live on one of the main streets coming into East Ridge. Besides the fact that cigarette butts are so unsightly, are not bio-degradable and they create a mess when I mow my lawn, my biggest fear during the ongoing drought is that one of those lit cigarette butts flying out of a car window is going to ignite the dry grass in my yard. I really don't want to see my house go up in flames because of some careless and senseless act.
Please stop and think before throwing those butts out of your car window anytime, but especially during this drought.
There is a reason why car manufacturers put ashtrays in cars. Please put your cigarettes butts out in your ashtray and not out your car window. I'm not sure the East Ridge Fire Department could get to my house in time to save it if my yard catches on fire.
Carolyn Perry
East Ridge
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I agree with Mr. Snyder, I am a long time smoker and though I have never been in the military I "field strip" my cigarettes, put the butt in my pocket and dispose of it in the garbage. Not all smokers are "litter bugs."
I must question the safety of Ms. Williams driving practices however, when she keeps "a pad of paper and pencil handy in my car and you can bet if I catch you littering you will be reported to the stop litter website." Do you do this while driving?
Seems to me that it is worse than a distracted cell phone user to be writing all the information you suggested while driving. At any rate, I dispose of my "butts" and other trash properly and really have better things to do than report people to the "stop litter website" especially while driving.
Debbie Rodriguez
Harrison
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