“Why do smokers litter indiscriminately?” — Netizen

SINGAPORE: A Reddit user asked “Why do smokers litter indiscriminately?” after witnessing Singaporean smokers throw their cigarette butts on grass, pathways, lift lobbies, and on the roads. He even saw one on a playground and immediately thought it dangerous for young children. 

u/Choco_Kiki posted in r/askSingapore: “The thing is they [smokers] do it with no hesitation nor shame. I confronted a friend once and he mentioned that if he threw it into the bin, it could cause a fire. I also notice not all bins have that metal catch at the top of it for cigarette butts.” 

The user is wondering if the littering is a ‘case of indifference’ or if there are simply no places for smokers to dispose of them. “If you are the rare breed who doesn’t litter, how do you dispose your cigarette butts?..Also have you confronted a smoker who litters before?” he concluded. 

Many users commented on the said post. 

One user stated: “They treat their body like a garbage dump, makes sense they think of the world in the same way.” 

Another user remarked: “Same reason as why many use vapes in office: they don’t care about themselves in the first place, all that’s going through their minds are “why should I care about anything or anyone else? Who gives a shit if I hotbox the office with my lead-infused grape scent?”

More comments mentioned: “If they don’t care about their body, what makes you think they’re gna care about the environment”.

“Cigarettes butts are a menace. There is plastic in the filter so it doesn’t ever integrate!!! Will slowly become micro plastics,” said another.

“Cause Singapore no longer law by law. So why ppl need to be afraid of the law,” and “NEA should go on a rampage. Caught littering cigarette butts, you get a fine, and need to pick up 500 butts.” 

More so, one user said the ‘throw it into the bin, it could cause a fire’ is just an excuse.