Unhealthy Habit's Aftermath: Impacts and Ramifications
It's high time we reconsider our traditional and harmful habits, notably smoking, paralleling the ongoing debates about the use of fossil fuels in cities. Among the various daily activities that could be revisited, smoking harbors numerous long-lasting environmental implications.
One single cigarette takes merely a span of six minutes to smoke but possesses environmental consequences persisting a lifetime. Research conducted by Jeanelle Gladwish, founder of the sustainability-focused translation agency, Sustainability Translators, emphasized this issue, comparing the destructiveness of smoking to that of using fossil fuels.
The unpleasant smell of cigarette smoke, seeping through a window, is all it took to fuel the thought that tobacco consumption should be banned, as reported by Gladwish, a Barcelona resident. Besides the unfavourable odour, cigarettes bring detrimental effects on our health, litter our streets, and pollute our oceans, seeping into our lungs, ecosystems, and urban lives.
Delving deeper into the subject, we find significant environmental impacts of tobacco farming. The agricultural activity accounts for approximately 5% of total worldwide deforestation, resulting in the loss of 200,000 hectares of forests and woodlands annually—land primarily used to cultivate tobacco and process its leaves.
Moreover, tobacco's nutrient-intensive demands cause nutrient depletion in soil as well as poor soil structure, rendering the crop more susceptible to pests and diseases. To combat these problems, farmers rely heavily on pesticides, fertilisers, and other chemicals, contributing to soil health degradation and erosion, especially during heavy rainfall. Apart from harming the environment, these chemicals pose health risks to the farmers themselves.
Tobacco cultivation also demands a staggering 22 billion tonnes of water each year—an amount equal to providing the daily water needs of 1.2 billion people for a full year. In times of water scarcity, an essential question arises: should this industry consume scarce resources when they are needed elsewhere?
In addition to its water consumption, cigarette smoke emits over 7,000 chemicals, with at least 69 carcinogens, and ten times more particulate matter than diesel exhaust. Such pollution contributes heavily to the air pollution issues witnessed in cities, with transportation often being the main focus rather than second-hand smoke in public.
The harmful effects of smoking extend beyond human consumers. Cigarette smoke kills over 8 million people each year and exposes an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers to second-hand smoke—a silent killer as these particles linger in the air, eventually settling in lungs, posing asthma, heart disease, and even lung cancer risks to the non-smoking population.
Not forgetting the inconspicuous yet alarming form of pollution caused by discarded cigarette butts, estimated to be the most littered item globally. With approximately 4.5 trillion butts discarded each year, they release toxic chemicals and fragment into microplastics, posing significant threats to the environment and food chain.
Making strides in counteracting these environmental concerns, several cities have taken measures to tackle cigarette litter and encourage quitting. Such initiatives include banning smoking on beaches in Barcelona, enforcing strict smoking rules on the streets of Tokyo, and introducing increased taxes and smoke-free zones in cities like San Francisco and Mexico.
However, there are still those who argue against these measures, pointing fingers at smokers' rights, the potential tax revenue loss, and the notion that one cigarette butt won't make a difference. France, staying ahead of these debates, calls for a reevaluation of what amount of nuisance we accept in our shared spaces and the kind of future we want to pass on to generations.
To ensure lasting change, the author contends that we must challenge our tolerance for such destructive habits and work collectively to build a safer, cleaner, and more sustainable world. It's a cause worth fighting for, as the impact of a single cigarette may fade within minutes, but it leaves behind consequences that last a lifetime.
- Revisiting harmful habits is imperative, like smoking, mirroring debates about fossil fuel use in cities.
- Science highlights the environmental consequences of smoking that persist longer than the six minutes it takes to smoke a single cigarette.
- In her research, Gladwish compares the destructiveness of smoking to that of using fossil fuels, a sustainability-focused translator from Barcelona.
- The unfavorable odor of cigarette smoke and its detrimental effects on health, streets, and oceans necessitate reconsideration of tobacco use.
- Tobacco farming, responsible for 5% of global deforestation, results in the loss of 200,000 hectares of forests annually.
- Nutrient-intensive tobacco demands deplete soil nutrients and worsen soil structure, making crops more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
- To combat these issues, farmers rely heavily on pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals, causing environmental degradation and health risks.
- Tobacco cultivation consumes 22 billion tonnes of water each year, an amount equal to the daily water needs of 1.2 billion people for a full year.
- Cigarette smoke emits over 7,000 chemicals, including 69 carcinogens and 10 times more particulate matter than diesel exhaust.
- These pollutants contribute heavily to air pollution issues in cities, with transportation often being the main focus rather than second-hand smoke.
- Smoking impacts more than human consumers, killing 8 million people each year and exposing 1.3 million non-smokers to second-hand smoke.
- Discarded cigarette butts, the most littered item globally, release toxic chemicals and fragment into microplastics, posing threats to the environment and food chain.
- Cities mandate measures to tackle cigarette litter and encourage quitting, such as smoke-free zones and increased taxes on cigarettes.
- To build a safer, cleaner, and more sustainable world, we must challenge our tolerance for destructive habits like smoking, with the impact lasting far beyond the smoke itself.
