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Smokers: Take Your Butts Out of Our City

by Sharon Aron Baron February 2, 2012

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Think she’s going to put that cigarette in her ashtray when she’s done?

It’s so common, yet many of us don’t really think much about it when someone does uses our streets as an ashtray. BSO certainly isn’t going to waste time citing drivers for this, but what do you think?

Ever wonder where all those cigarette butts go when you see people smoking in their cars? Well, that’s an easy one for anyone who has driven in South Florida. You know they eventually end up on our streets.

These same people, who would never so much as throw a fast food container out of their cars, are littering our streets with thousands of cigarette butts each year!

Each year, if a smoker throws just 3 cigarettes a day out their windows, that’s 1,095 cigarette butts littering our streets.

Many smokers don’t want to dirty up their cars and use their ashtrays, that is, if they even have one. Many car manufacturers don’t even have standard ashtrays in them any more. Some models sell “smokers packages” however, smokers don’t want to dirty up their new car, choosing instead to throw them out their windows.

Look closely at our streets. Those butts aren’t composting there.

Florida litter laws say that any person who dumps litter weighing under 15 pounds is guilty of a noncriminal infraction punishable by a civil penalty of $100, from which $50 is deposited in the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund. In addition, the court may require the violator to pick up litter or perform other labor commensurate with the offense committed.

Problem is, Broward Sheriff’s Office is not going to enforce this.

Why? Because they don’t have the budget or the manpower to write tickets for these types of small infractions.

I think some sort of public education is in order to stop these litterbugs, either through road signs or public awareness. Just don’t take your life in your own hands by publicly chastising one of these litterbugs on the road or you may become a victim of an even bigger crime of road rage.

Author Profile

Sharon Aron Baron

Sharon Aron Baron is the Editor of Tamarac Talk, Coral Springs Talk, Margate Talk, Coconut Creek Talk and Parkland Talk. Tamarac Talk was created in 2011 to provide News for the residents of Tamarac and is the #1 News Source for Residents.