Passive Smoking and Its Effect On the Environment
July 8, 2022. Written by Ava Wei
Apart from probably most people, I still remember going on a field trip to a conference consisting of middle school students from Sumner County(TN), known as TATTUU. Excited about the only field trip I had that year, I was ready to listen to many presentations and most importantly, receive a free shirt! The program is just an example of the many resources available to inform the youth of the dangers of smoking. Smoking is an issue that is acknowledged, but still exists commonly. Cigarettes cause more than 480,000 deaths in the United States every year. Blood vessels are damaged, heart rate goes up, blood pressure can go up, lung disease probabilities increase, and blood clots can also form from smoking. Despite the health concerns and even the fact that smoking can cause cancer in any part of your body, nicotine is addictive and legalized, so many still smoke. In TATTUU, the organizers depicted to middle school students how vapes can cause irreversible damage to the lungs, that normal cigarettes blackened the lungs, and that drugs were bad in general. Three years later, I still remember the unforgettable image of “popcorn” lungs. 6th grader me was shocked and lectured into acknowledging that I should stay away from drugs. Walking through the street, if someone was smoking, I found myself always holding my breath to somehow prevent second hand smoke inhalation. I don’t like the smell of smoke either, and in big cities like New York City, the scent of leftover chemicals lingers, and poses as a reminder of the bad chemicals I could be inhaling. Cigarette smoking also poses an environmental risk. It’s use releases polluting toxins into the air, and the chemicals also harm the water, soil, and wildlife. Lit, discarded cigarettes can cause fires or even forest fires. Smokeless tobacco (tobacco is also a branch of smoking) has cancer-inducing toxins and is very addictive. Tobacco is causing deforestation and is also emitting harmful chemicals into the air. Smoking is damaging the environment and human bodily health as well. This is recognized by some, but still poses a problem. It’s contributing to littering and air pollution, and no one wants to look up and only see a gray sky everyday or walk around and see cigarette butts everywhere. However, those who are helping to change this are getting word around. Anyone remember the company that releases the relentless anti-smoking advertisements on Youtube? The ads are offering resources to people who might need it, although it is certainly sometimes annoying being stuck on a no skip ad and then getting another one of the truth ads, but these resources (sites, ads, articles) on anti-smoking are probably the best thing the world can do to try to stop smoking without telling someone what they can do. So everyone, see the truth.
-Ava Wei
