Tobacco & The Environment

Most people know that tobacco causes tremendous harm to human health. Something less well known is that the tobacco industry also causes a lot of damage to the environment. From growing tobacco plants to disposal of butts and packaging, the life cycle of a cigarette creates a lot of pollution.

Most of the world's tobacco is grown in the developing world, so most of the damage from toxic chemical waste, pollution and pesticides takes place there as well. China is the world's largest producer of tobacco, followed by the United States, India, Brazil, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

But tobacco causes environmental damage where it is used as well as where it is produced. Burning tobacco is the main source of indoor air pollution in the developed world. Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, including 50 that are known to cause cancer.

Cigarette butts and packaging are also major sources of street litter. Every day, Canadians throw away millions of cigarette butts and packages, and many of these end up on the ground.

Cigarettes and other smoking-related materials (matches, etc.) are also a common cause of fires. From 1997 to 2001 there were 2,310 fires caused by smokers' materials in Alberta, resulting in 284 injuries, 40 deaths and an estimated $46 million in property damage.