What is the proper etiquette for confronting a litterbug [for tossing] a cigarette butt into the gutter? I have seen this happen three times recently on the streets of downtown Asheville, but I don’t know the proper way to confront these litterbugs.
Any suggestions from Mountain Xpress readers?
— Paul King
Asheville
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Screw etiquette… pick up the butt and flick it right in the jack asses eye.
If you pick up litter, they will raise rents! Do nothing to protect your rent.
Why is it smokers consider butts not trash? Some smokers would never toss a can or wrapper, why are butts okay?
Do be careful, nobody likes reprimands, make sure you are bigger…then flick it towards their eye…..
Cigarette Litter is ButtUgly!!!
Current NC Litter laws, if enforced, will cost the offender, at minimum, $250. Many states are enforcing aggressive litter laws to address the growing amount litter. What a great way to pay for education and costs associated with enforcement.
ButtUgly.org was created to help raise awareness that Cigarette Litter is not only ButtUgly, but against the law and toxic too. Visit our website. We have posters (free) that are available to copy and print. There’s a ButtUgly video worth checking out too.
Encourage family members, teachers, friends and community leaders to help kick the litter butt habit! A little Education, Activism and Enforcement will go a long way!
ButtUgly.org has posters that can be hung on bulletin boards, in store windows, lunch rooms etc.
Go to:
buttugly.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/bc_litter_law_fine.jpg
You are welcome to copy and print the business card size Litter Law reminders…they make great hand-outs to those you catch in the act.
What I would do is politely confront the litterer and point out that you don’t appreciate him dropping his butts on the street. Most smokers do this without thinking…and would probably pick it up.
“What I would do is politely confront the litterer and point out that you don’t appreciate him dropping his butts on the street. Most smokers do this without thinking…and would probably pick it up.”
This would be the preferred manner of dealing with the problem, and one that I’ve done myself a couple of times. Once, the offender in fact did pick the butt up; the other told me to mind my own business, to which I replied that ‘helping to keep the community in which I live clean’ was my business. He walked off and I picked the foul thing up myself and tossed it in the trash bin.
I’m a smoker myself, but find this behavior repulsive. For such a beautiful and eviro-conscious town, I am amazed and appalled by how many people I see throw their butts on the street, out their car windows, and even out on hikes!
On a recent trip to the Congaree National Forest, I saw the most clever, and simple, idea- and method of disposal- in use: they had “recycled” film canisters , filled with a bit of sand, to be used as little, sealable ashtrays. You can fit them easily into a pocket, purse, or backpack.
I’ve never understood those that toss them from the car window….while there is a receptacle in every car, intended for just this use.
Some people just don’t care, I guess. And I am usually too disgusted once I witness it to carry out a polite confrontation.
I guess my contribution is: just make a point of picking it up behind them and throwing it away- hopefully they will notice and feel embarrassed…?