TENNESSEE, USA — Did you know that cigarette filters take years to decompose?
When they're tossed on the ground or thrown out a car window, the plastic pollution makes its way into our water and even poisons wild life when they mistake it for food.
It's also ugly.
Pete Rosenboro with the Department of Tourist Development said, "Tennessee is known for its scenic beauty, that's what attracts people to Tennessee."
Tennessee is beautiful.
Litter makes it less beautiful.
Cigarette butts are the number one most littered item.
Edmond McDavis III with Keep Tennessee Beautiful said, "We're not telling people not to smoke cigarettes, we're telling them not to place that litter on the ground."
Keep Tennessee Beautiful and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development try to persuade people to not litter.
Edmond McDavis III and Pete Rosenboro from those organizations had an epiphany at a Keep America Beautiful Conference.
That's where they learned about TerraCycle. .
"Terracycle is a for-profit mission-driven company and that mission is to eliminate the idea of waste. We are the world's only international recycling company specializing in hard to recycle materials," Lisa Pellegrino with TerraCycle said.
In just a few months, they have collected more than 41,700 butts.
Here's how it works.
The 16 welcome centers in the state now feature cigarette recycling receptacles for people to put their cigarette butts.
The staff bags up the butts and ships them for free to TerraCycle for processing.
The ash tobacco and paper are composted and used for non-food applications, for example, at a golf course.
The filters are made of a polymer called cellulose acetate, a type of plastic. TerraCycle turns the filters into pellets used to make items like park benches, picnic tables, shipping pallets, bike racks, recycling bins and even ashtrays.
"I just appreciate the partnership with TerraCycle, Keep Tennessee Beautiful and Tennessee Department of Transportation to keep combating this issue," Pete Rosenboro said.
For every pound of cigarette butts Tennessee sends, the company donates a dollar to Keep America Beautiful.
Edmond McDavis III said, "This program is important because we're giving people the tools that they need to make the right choice."
Ultimately, those choices are up to visitors and people who live here to Keep Tennessee Beautiful.
Keep Putnam County Beautiful-Clean Commission and Keep McMinn Beautiful also launched cigarette recycling programs.