{"id":544223,"date":"2026-03-25T11:16:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/544223\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:16:18","slug":"chattanooga-effort-turns-cigarette-butts-into-something-useful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/544223\/","title":{"rendered":"Chattanooga effort turns cigarette butts into something useful"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn \u2014 The most littered item in the world is something many people barely notice when it hits the ground.<\/p>\n

Cigarette butts.<\/p>\n

Each year, billions are tossed aside, and many end up in waterways like the Tennessee River.<\/p>\n

At the Tennessee Aquarium plaza, recycling bins are giving those cigarette butts a second life.<\/p>\n

These recycling boxes are set up throughout the Tennessee Aquarium plaza to help recycle the most littered item in the world.<\/p>\n

\"File<\/p>\n

File photo: Getty Images.<\/p>\n

Cigarette butts make up nearly 88% of litter smaller than four inches, according to Keep America Beautiful.<\/p>\n

And they don\u2019t just disappear.<\/p>\n

Most filters are made of plastic fibers that can take years to break down, all while releasing chemicals into the soil and water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plastic in the cigarette butts is made out of cellulose acetate when it does break down, it leaches those chemicals,\u201d said Kyle Coleman with the Tennessee Aquarium.\"File<\/p>\n

File photo: Getty Images.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where this program comes in.<\/p>\n

With help from Keep Tennessee River Beautiful and the Tennessee Valley Authority, cigarette receptacles have been placed in high-traffic areas to encourage proper disposal.<\/p>\n

So we were able to receive cigarette receptacles and grant funding to implement this program,\u201d said Kathleen Gibi. \u201cAnd then we partnered to create educational art wraps on the cigarette receptacles.<\/p>\n

The idea is simple: Give smokers a place to put cigarette butts before they end up on the ground.<\/p>\n

Similar programs are already in place at parks, welcome centers, and even Dollywood, which officials say recycles every cigarette butt collected on its property.<\/p>\n

Those recycled filters can be turned into new materials, including park benches.<\/p>\n

But if they are not collected, the impact can be serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cCigarette butts actually can contain enough toxins to kill aquatic life within two gallons of surrounding water,\u201d Gibi said.<\/p>\n

For a city built along the Tennessee River, that hits close to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd think about the water you drink the fish that are swimming around it\u2019s all connected,\u201d Coleman said.<\/p>\n

The goal is to change habits one small step at a time.<\/p>\n

Because what ends up on the ground doesn\u2019t always stay there.<\/p>\n

Depend on us to keep you posted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHATTANOOGA, Tenn \u2014 The most littered item in the world is something many people barely notice when it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-544223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}