IT IS A common notion that smoking is just a health issue. However, we must recognize the entirety of its impacts on health, environment, economic, social, and political spheres.
Yes, we must acknowledge smoking as an environmental issue, too, and has even become a crisis.
Discussing smoking’s environmental blows is a timely yet rarely explored topic. We fervently hope this is consistently included in discoursing climate change and other ecological concerns.
Smoking have negative environmental consequences such as land degradation, deforestation, production of toxic wastes, incorrect disposal of cigarette butts, and carbon emissions.
It is estimated that if a man smokes just a pack of cigarettes a day for 50 years, he would be producing 5.1 trillion carbon dioxide emissions. To offset or counterbalance the released carbon dioxide, the man has to plant or grow 132 tree seedlings in 10 years.
Yes, the tobacco supply chain also has destructive/detrimental impacts to natural resources. The chain includes cultivation, curing and manufacturing.
In the curing stage, the direct burning of wood and coal accounts for more carbon emissions than all stages combined. In one year, this process produces 45 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions globally. Not factored in yet is the carbon dioxide released due to deforestation.
So to all the smokers and would-be smokers, please ponder on the adverse effects of the production and post-consumer waste issues of non-tobacco elements of cigarettes, including filters and packaging.
