Why is throwing cigarette butts out of the car window bad? They are so small.?

Question

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a02Mw52jDXU

Answer 1

I know a kid who was driving along a dry California highway with his girl friend... she flipped her still smoldering cigarette butt out the window. A Couple of hours later he went by the same place taking her home. He had to stop cause there was a huge fire, complete with fire trucks every where and a road block. The fire went on to destroy three homes, a barn full of farm critters, an Apple orchard and the grass on a big pasture. Needless to say he and his girlfriend were really shocked.

That's why not to throw out cigarette butts..

Answer 2

They can also start forest fires or large grass fires if they land in the right spot.

Answer 3

Not only the starting forest fires and that it looks disgusting, but think of the fact that the filters on cigs are used to keep out all those disgusting and cancerous chemicals from going in your body. When you're throwing those out your window, all those nasty toxins go with it and are then exposed to everyone else. please stop being so selfish.

Answer 4

Think of all the people who smoke, throwing butts out the windows... how many would that be?

Answer 5

cause animals, like birds, can eat them. also dogs and hobos can choke on them.

Answer 6

So small but can cause a HUGE forest fire.

and they look nasty all over the ground

Smokey the Bear says

USE THE ASHTRAY PLEASE

Answer 7

ummm... i take it ya never realized that fires don't start themselves.  .....  

well it's true.  only people spontaneously combust.  the rest need some kind of ignition source.  kinda like a small lit cigarette butt.

Answer 8

Its littering. And it makes the area smell bad if enough of them are thrown.

Answer 9

Its littering,  polluting the air with the smoke and it ruins the economic environment.

Answer 10

why is farting in public bad? you cant even see it?

Answer 11

i live in tx  and you don't mess with Texas .

i never ever throw my trash out on the road.

but i do do throw my butts out the window

????

Answer 12

First of all because you are polluting and its against the law.  

Secondly, cigarrette butts are not biodegradeable, they dont degrade within time and they just continue to live and get burried with dirt.  

I think if we were to dig into the earth we could probally find cigarette butts from the last 2 centurys out there.

Answer 13

its polluting, but eventualy, they'll all pile up and smell gross and look bad. dude, thats what your ashtray in the car is for. if you use the ashtray for coins, at least carry a little plastic bag around for your butts.

its like gum on the sidewalk, their small, so one person spits out a small peice of gum. then people see that small peice of gum so they think its okay to spit it on the sidewalk, then 100 more people who use that sidewalk daily spit their gum on the same sidewalk. then the sidewalk is littered with gum and the city has to waste their tax dollars on cleaning it. so its the same with cigarette butts, people think its okay, then 100 different people throw out their butts on the ground, and the ground becomes littered with cigarette butts. not a pretty sight. use your ashtray, or a garbage can

Answer 14

yeh but they sting like a ***** when they fly in the window of the guy driving behind you

Answer 15

1 make sure there are no bikers behind you.

http://www.mopo.ca/uploaded_images/real-...

they will feed it to you.

2 http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/ge...

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/6183921/detail...

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/010...

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2005news/2005...

what is not known by people is that the cigarette butts hold DNA very well

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_...

http://www.aslme.org/dna_04/news/2005/4-...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...

you could be arrested for something minor 20 years later and find your looking at a 20 year jail term for arson.

in Calif cigarette butt found at fires are sent to the state DNA lab.

some times it takes them months to process them

many times there is no DNA match at the time.

but the DNA record is keep on a computer file and if they get a match years later your busted.

Answer 16

Yes, cigarette butts are so 'small', not the fire! You have that age to feel how a tiny "spark" makes a huge FIRE! Secondly, if people go on throwing butts after butts---IMAGINE!

Lastly, why the car makers provide ashtrays for?

Finally, where do the smokers throw butts? Is the place belongs to them only? In that case it's okay---you make your place a mess but not a public place, please.

Answer 17

Cigarette buts can take 1-5 years to break down - assuming there is no plastic in them.  Otherwise, it could take decades.

Secondly, they are a huge contributor to grass and forest fires.  Not only that, but many of these fires destroy people's homes as well as businesses.

And if you still think this doesn't affect you, what if your home was destroyed in this manner?  Or better yet, when these fires occur, or when we have to have people pick up litter, how do you think this stuff gets taken care of?

TAXES!!!!

Taxes pay for salaries of firemen, roadside clean-up crews, DOT crews to repair damaged roads from fires, etc.  This increases our taxes.  You pay more!

Answer 18

They build up because everyone does it so much...

Answer 19

People that don't smoke are always telling people that do because they didn't get the love they need as babies.

That's why they like seeing smokers stand in the rain just to smoke.

Answer 20

Because this is how many bush or forest fires are started ,

And those kill people and animals

as well as destroy property

and huge parts of Nature.

Answer 21

It's still littering and it makes our world look bad. In Ontario it is against the law and you can get a fine!

Answer 22

It can lead to dancing