Butt Heads

As I sat at the stoplight, the driver in front of me flicked his cigarette butt out the top of his sun roof.  I wonder what percentage of smokers just litter their butts off?  Disgusting!

In fact cigarette butts are the most littered item in the USA and the world (several trillion butts a year) as estimated by the non-profit www.cigarettelitter.org. 

One of the early non profits that submitted a letter of interest to SVP Cincinnati was Keep Cincinnati Beautiful (afflilated with Keep America Beautiful).   G.B. and I performed the site visit to this non-profit during the 2008 investment cycle.  Their mission attempts to change behaviors - one of the toughest challenges for anyone or any organization. 

The first most important step is to educate people on what is litter and the consequences (since the $500 fine is rarely imposed).  The next step is to instill the habit of cleaning up after one's self.  For example:  At a baseball game, theater, etc.  do you leave your "litter" at the seat assuming your ticket price includes the cost of custodian help to clean up?  Or do you feel the individual responsibility for throwing your litter away?

I think I will modify Sir Francis Bacon and John Wesley's treatise on cleanliness and godliness.

"Litter-less is next to Godliness".