Today is No Smoking Day. I can’t imagine any of the hardcore nicotine-lovers I know stubbing their cigarettes out for the afternoon, let alone for good, but I thought this would be a good time to think about the environmental impacts of smoking.

We’re constantly reminded that lighting up is bad for our health, our wallets and the health of people around us, but what about the planet?

According to treehugger, around 600 million trees are chopped down anually to create fuel to dry tobacco. Tobacco is responsible for 20% of deforestation in Malawi, and 5% of the deforestation in Africa as a whole.

That’s only the start: the chemicals in cigarettes can cause health problems in tobacco farmers and environmental trouble. While a cigarette butt may not seem like much rubbish, the 4.5 trillion non-biodegradeable filters disposed of every year soon add up.

The treehugger article lays out more facts and figures with full references. Something to mull over on your next fag break perhaps?

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