Cigarette butts big part of litter problem

Cigarette butts are litter, too. That’s the message the Mandeville and Slidell Clean City teams have been trying to get across to St. Tammany Parish residents, and we whole-heartedly agree.

The programs for these two organizations have been ongoing for a while, but cigarette butts are still everywhere.

For some reason, folks who would never consider throwing a paper cup or food wrapper out of a car, think nothing of tossing a cigarette butt out, or worse yet, dumping their ash trays out on the roadside. What they do not understand is that it takes more than 25 years for a cigarette butt to decompose in natural surroundings.

And even worse, once the outer layers of the butt are permeated by water or tearing, the filters inside expand and the mess gets bigger.

We implore cigarette smokers to recognize this nuisance and stop littering immediately. And we ask all citizens to help by reporting violations to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality on its hotline, 1-888-LIT-R-BUG.

Provide them with the license plate of the offender, the location, date and time of day the incident occurred, and DEQ will send them a letter stating it is aware of the violation and strongly discourage future abuse.