Cost of taking action: £/$/€ SAVES MONEY
Plastic disposable cigarette lighters are a major marine plastic polluter
Plastic lighters are sadly one of the most common types of trash found in our seas. This is entirely avoidable (and you don’t have to give up smoking!) simply by buying a refillable lighter.
Plus … this will actually cost you less, the initial cost of a proper lighter is easily saved once you have filled up a few times.
There are also some fantastic designs and collectable lighters available too, in fact it’s become quite a cool hobby to collect them.
What’s the issue?
As we have covered in many of our articles, single use plastic items are highly polluting and we now know that they are causing huge problems for our marine life and marine environments in particular.
Disposable lighters are not recyclable because they are a mixture of different plastics and metals, plus of course they remain hazardous with unused gas in them under pressure. Therefore, they tend to just get thrown into the routine rubbish bin or domestic wheelie bin.
Sadly, they are often just littered too, especially on beaches and in our countryside.
Disposable plastic lighters are definitely things to avoid using from now on!
Alternatives
Zippo and many other companies produce some beautifully designed lighters, take a look at the picture below for example and click on the image to visit the Zippo site.
As well as buying the refillable lighter, you will need to buy a cannister of butane to fill it with. This will last many, many refills!
Take action
If you smoke, please don’t use disposable single use lighters. They are polluting and damaging, and not recyclable. Buy yourself a good quality permanent refillable lighter and enjoy the beautiful designs that are available too.
