Reports From the Field

Since July, we have been regularly finding, categorizing, and mapping tobacco product waste in San Diego County. So far, we have collected tobacco product waste in ten census blocks!

Altogether, we collected nearly 3,000 individual pieces of tobacco product waste–2,975 to be exact!

Look at the graph and you can see that cigarette butts make up the largest proportion of what we collected, which is not surprising since they are the most littered item worldwide. Other types of waste from tobacco products, such as cigar tips, wrappers, and cigarette packages, were the second largest category, with “dual use” items the third largest. “Dual use” refers to items such as lighters, matches, or rolling papers that could be used for different kinds of products, such as cannabis or tobacco. We collected very little waste from e-cigarettes or cannabis.

We also collect and dispose of general trash that we come upon while collecting data. Although not part of our data collection, we consistently receive “thanks and smiles” from residents who we encounter. One resident mentioned, “I have never seen my street so clean.”