Littering

I was sitting in traffic the other day, like everyone else who has ever tried to cross the "new bridge"* at any time of day for the entirety of its existence. And in the next lane was a white Lexus, with a guy driving and 3 passengers. And he's SMOKING. With the windows UP. And everyone looks MISERABLE. And then he flicks the cigarette butt out the window. OUT THE WINDOW. All nonchalant like, as if it's no big deal.

And all I could think is, what hateful flavor of asshole do you have to be to think that throwing a cigarette butt out the car window is acceptable behavior? I just cannot comprehend how anyone thinks this way. What trajectory did this guy's life take that he (apparently) thinks littering is acceptable, okay, not dick behavior, and possibly even that his cigarette butt is not his problem?

He must be arrogant, right? To nonchalantly flick trash out a car window, in full view of people, with no apparent qualms about the behavior is a level of arrogance I cannot comprehend. It's arrogant to think that you can do whatever you want, rules be damned. It's arrogant to think that this litter is somebody else's problem.

He must also be ignorant, right? At least ignorant in this realm of things - maybe he's a very nice man or really bright about other things. But in this, he's ignorant. It's ignorant to think that the trash you threw out the window is no big deal, that it doesn't matter, and that since it's gone it's not a problem anymore.

He must also be rude and/or inconsiderate, right? For starters he was smoking in a car with passengers with the windows up. Maybe they were all fine with hotboxing it but they looked unhappy. But also it's rude to throw trash out. And it's inconsiderate of others. This time it's a cigarette, but how many cigarette butts has this guy thrown out his car window? It's inconsiderate of the surrounding area too, because littering is bad but also it's unsightly.

Cigarette butts are bad because they're bite size for wildlife, and can be harmful to them. They're also some of the most common forms of litter, and possibly as much as 35% of all litter is cigarette butts. Also it appears that 75% of smokers have admitted to throwing cigarette butts out the car window [source]. Cigarettes contain toxic chemicals (which should be no surprise to anyone) but includes arsenic, lead, and plastic (these could surprise some). They're not biodegradable in any way either so it's not like they'll just disappear quickly.

 In my angry research I discovered that I can report littering! Even cigarette butts out car windows! If you're in Louisiana, the phone # is 1-888-LIT-R-BUG aka 1-888-548-7284. You better believe I'm reporting this shithead behavior next time I see it! Turns out the Keep Louisiana Beautiful group is doing that good work.

That number is only good for Louisiana but turns out there's a list by state of ways to report litter! I don't know how up to date it is but here goes anyway: https://www.greenecoservices.com/state-litter-hotlines/


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*The "new bridge" is the I-10 Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge that crosses the Mississippi River. It's only new in comparison to the US 190 bridge just north of the I-10 bridge. Locally they're known as the "new bridge" and the "old bridge".