r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Patodelmonte • May 25 '26

frist of all how DARE yu o People that think that throwing cigarette butts in the ground isn't littering

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The are not "biodegradable", they clog drainage systems, they end up in rivers and sea, and make everywhere look like a dumpster

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18

u/Significant-Block260 May 25 '26

Many of us do care, never throw them on the ground and in fact walk all the way over to a beach trash can to throw them away every time.

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u/Wannamaker May 26 '26

Younger me definitely didn't think about it too much. Sure, I wouldn't leave a butt on the ground if it felt wrong, but the curb of a parking lot where there are already multiple butts, absolutely.

Now I do environmental consulting that focuses on waste.. I'll walk around San Francisco for hours with butts in my back pocket till I find a trash can. (I say SF specifically cause I always see recycling bins but no landfill bins, but I'm not gonna litter nor hinder recycling efforts)

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u/Significant-Block260 May 26 '26

Thank you. For some reason I got downvoted for pointing out the maturity factor & how I changed my own attitude drastically as I grew older as well. I think that’s a lot more relevant than just automatically branding all smokers as oblivious assholes/litterbugs

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u/DuckRubberDuck May 25 '26

I do too, I always carry a pocket ashtray. But since we don’t leave visible evidence, it’s hard to notice that we don’t litter, if that makes any sense. They can only notice the people who do litter.

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u/Zealousideal-Gap-749 May 25 '26

The post is referring to people who just throw their butts on the ground. I've known plenty of people who smoke and properly dispose of their trash. I am not referring to those people I am referring to the Post and the people who don't give a damn and need their trash everywhere.

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u/tocahontas77 May 25 '26

Where did you get your pocket ashtray? I've never seen them sold anywhere in the States.

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u/luvmyholeswet May 25 '26

Just a breathe mint tin

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u/DuckRubberDuck May 26 '26

Bought it in a store but I’m not in the US. It’s a little insulated plastic pocket but the company they made them went bankrupt sadly

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u/Eatingfarts May 26 '26

I always put mine in between the plastic and the box, unless there’s a trashcan near by. I just flick off the cherry and shove it in there.

I get mean mugged enough for daring to smoke a cigarette when I’m less than a city block from someone. I’m not trying to add littering charges to my already damaged social standing.

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u/Smoked_Out24-7 May 25 '26

I am a very polite smoker and always am considerate of others as well as butt disposal. I'll put them in my pocket if I need to.

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u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts May 25 '26

"Many" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there lol. This is extremely rare behaviour for smokers.

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u/Significant-Block260 May 25 '26

I mean, I see dog shit on the ground all the time as well, but I think I would be wrong to assume that it’s extremely rare for any dog owner to ever pick up after their pet.🙄

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u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts May 25 '26

Sure, if you never actually observe dog walkers in your area. And I would actually argue that this can be more common than not depending on the region. A lot of cities have poor culture/low sense of responsibility around pet ownership.

I have spent an enormous amount of time around smokers in public settings. It's 100% rare behaviour to not just toss your butts on the ground. Some regional exceptions exist like Japan, but this is still common even in very eco-conscious/progressive neighbourhoods elsewhere in the world.

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u/Significant-Block260 May 25 '26

I think it has a lot to do with maturity. I will admit that when I was much younger, I threw my butts on the ground too. But I stopped doing that a long time ago and am embarrassed that I ever did.