Smoking on the playground: Fathers under pressure – Who will protect our children?

Smoking on the playground: Fathers under pressure – Who will protect our children?

It's hard to miss: Cigarette butts are a ubiquitous problem in our environment. Whether on sidewalks, beaches or even playgrounds - the small stubs leave their mark and contribute to the increasing environmental protection problem. The Northern Courier reports on a father who sees smoking as a little pleasure in the often hectic everyday family life. But not without consequences: Mike, the young father, is not allowed to smoke in his apartment, and there is no smoking at work either.

That's why he spends his evenings and weekends at the playground to smoke his cigarettes in peace. However, he is not careful. He smokes four to five cigarettes in a row after changing his place - the previous one was covered in butts. A mother recently made it clear to him that he was throwing cigarette butts into the sand, where his health and the health of many other children was obviously at stake. But that's of little use to Mike: "I pay taxes, I have the right to smoke," is his indignant answer.

Environmentally harmful residues

The numbers also show the sad reality: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), two thirds of the cigarettes smoked worldwide - around 5.6 trillion every year - end up in nature. An alarming finding when you consider that cigarette butts are not only made of plastic, but are also contaminated with toxic substances such as nicotine and arsenic. The daily news highlights that just one cigarette butt in a liter of water can kill half of the fish within a few days. And the danger not only affects the animal world, but also us humans. Harmful substances from the butts reach the groundwater and can endanger our drinking water quality.

Despite these shocking facts, Mike has few concerns. As a father, when he talks about the clean playgrounds, he feels more provoked than encouraged to be considerate. He even plans to contact the city and have the sand replaced. A meager solution to a much larger problem that affects us all.

Responsibility of the manufacturer

Environmental activists see responsibility for the high levels of cigarette waste worldwide not only in the hands of smokers, but also in the hands of manufacturers. The BUND calls on cigarette manufacturers to finance publicity campaigns on environmental risks and to provide closed ashtrays at public trash cans. This could be a simple but effective measure to reduce the burden of carelessly discarded butts. Ultimately, environmental protection concerns us all.

If every smoker showed a little consideration and disposed of cigarette butts properly - ideally in the trash or in designated pocket ashtrays - a lot could be achieved. Until then, the question remains how we can make more conscious decisions for our environment. It's a broad field, but together we could make a start.