Dear Editor,
I participated in Reality Check’s cigarette butt pick up at a local park. I was surprised how much of the garbage we picked up was cigarette butts. By the time we were done, the fingers of my gloves had turned yellow from all the tar and the butts smelled really gross.
Did you know that cigarette butts contain thousands of toxic chemicals? So, every time it rains, chemicals like lead and arsenic are leached into the ground and water. Cigarette butts are not biodegradable. They make our parks look dirty.
Also, cigarette smoke has thousands of harmful chemicals in it. I started thinking about all the little kids and families who like to go to the park and felt bad knowing that they were exposed to second-hand smoke at the park. All parks and playgrounds should be smoke-free!
Thank you,
Niki
High School Senior at Tioga Center School
