Thursday, September 25, 2008

Butting out

Back in town for the first time in a while, and I'm distressed by the amount of litter I'm seeing. In this case, the litter is specifically cigarette butts, the disgusting residue of a filthy and selfish bad habit.

They're everywhere, but I noticed a high concentration of them all around the perimeter of Mellon Square. Apparently people sit on the ledge and smoke, then just drop the butt on the ground when they're done. The city can't clean this up? People who stay at the William Penn Hotel must have a horrible impression of Pittsburgh when they step out of the building and see the filth on the sidewalk. Smokers can't do a better job of getting rid of their butts?

How about this: Make it a $50 littering fine to drop a butt on the sidewalk. It will cure the problem in no time, and for the first week or so, it will be a goldmine for the city.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

would you really want to enforce that? it would be a hellraising-- civil liberties, the gestapo, and other claims by outraged smokers.
i agree the litter is disgusting, but i think your energy should go to the more severe problem of -- FOOD WRAPPING. that is not just litter, but food for rats. butts can be easily swept, at least. burger wrappers are crumpled, and therefore easily carried by the wind. they get everywhere, and they smell.

Anonymous said...

How is a civil liberties violation? You don't have the right to throw litter on the sidewalks. Fast food wrappers are bad, too, but the ratio between them and butts is like 1/100.

Anonymous said...

You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view

Anonymous said...

You have really great taste on catch article titles, even when you are not interested in this topic you push to read it

Anonymous said...

I realize this comment is about 2 years too late, but I'm doing my masters thesis on cigarette litter in Pittsburgh. Cigarettes are not biodegradable! The filters are made of plastic, and the chemicals in them are toxic and can get into the environment and kill/harm wildlife. Any twat that thinks it is OK to through their butt on the ground in the name of "civil liberties" should really learn a thing or two before opening their mouth.

Technically, Pittsburgh does have a fine for littering, and if they started enforcing it by citing and fining smokers, I think the problem would be cleaned up in no time at all!

Doug said...

How is a civil liberties violation? You don't have the right to throw litter on the sidewalks. Fast food wrappers are bad, too, but the ratio between them and butts is like 1/100.