Episode
Cigarette Butts Are the Most Littered Item on Earth. Rochester Is Doing Something About It This Earth Day.
- Podcast
- Rochester Speaks
- Published
- Apr 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 906
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://rss.com/podcasts/rochester-speaks/2724400
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Summary
Just in time for Earth Day, Lindsay Kremers, Community Engagement Coordinator, and Lindsay Kaya, Youth Engagement Coordinator at the Smoking and Health Action Coalition of Livingston and Monroe Counties, join the show to talk about something most people never connect to environmental health, tobacco waste. Cigarette butts are the single most littered item worldwide and the filters inside them are made from cellulose acetate, a plastic that does not biodegrade under normal conditions. When they end up in soil and waterways, they leach toxic chemicals that harm wildlife and ecosystems. Add to that the staggering statistic that the tobacco industry cuts down roughly 600 million trees every year for paper and packaging, and the environmental footprint of smoking becomes impossible to ignore. The conversation also covers the growing environmental challenge of e-cigarettes, which combine lithium ion batteries, plastic casings, nicotine cartridges and packaging into a disposal nightmare, and the rise of Zyn pouches, a highly concentrated synthetic nicotine product whose long term effects are still largely unknown. Monroe County's vape disposal program through Eco Park is one of the few such programs in the state. On Wednesday April 22nd at 6pm the coalition is hosting a tobacco litter pickup at Ontario Beach Park, meeting at the historic carousel. Gloves, bags and buckets will be provided. Anyone looking to quit can call the New York State Quit Line or text the Drop the Vape program for anonymous cessation support.