We already know beyond any doubt that smoking is harmful to health, but is smoking harmful to the environment? Let's take a closer look at how tobacco is grown and how it affects the environment.
Is tobacco cultivation and thus smoking harmful to the environment?
The cultivation of tobacco
The cultivation of tobacco degrades the soil. Long-term tobacco cultivation not only stimulates soil acidification, but also reduces the acid buffer capacity of the soil, which has a negative impact on sustainable soil use.
Like any one-sided cultivation, tobacco farming threatens biodiversity. In addition, pesticides and fertilisers are used, exposing farm workers to dangerous chemicals.
Over four million hectares are used for tobacco cultivation worldwide.
Deforestation due to tobacco curing
Tobacco curing leads to global deforestation for farmland. In the mid-1990s, more than half of the 120 low- and middle-income tobacco-growing countries together lost 211,000 hectares annually to deforestation.
Every year, an estimated 11.4 million tonnes of wood are burned to cure tobacco.
Environmental damage through tobacco processing
Tobacco processing causes various types of environmental damage, including enormous water and energy consumption, toxic waste and greenhouse gases.
The estimated annual emissions from tobacco processing are equivalent to the emissions from around 3 million transatlantic flights.
Transport of tobacco leaves and tobacco products
Tobacco is transported as a raw material and as a finished consumer product by aeroplanes, vehicles and ships. This leads to huge air pollution and the increased consumption of fossil fuels.
Damage due to tobacco consumption
Tobacco smoke affects smokers, their surroundings and the environment through toxic emissions and greenhouse gases.
In a single year, cigarette smoke contributes thousands of tonnes of carcinogenic chemicals, other toxins and greenhouse gases worldwide.
Disposal of the tobacco
The disposal of tobacco and cigarette waste contributes to significant amounts of waste and releases toxic chemicals into the environment.
Cigarette butts are the biggest waste producer of a single product and their filters are not biodegradable.
In addition, tobacco product packaging generates 2 million tonnes of waste per year.
The environmental and health impacts of tobacco are enormous and increasing, and are particularly harmful to low- and middle-income countries.
Conclusion
On the question of whether smoking is harmful to the environment, a new report shows that the six trillion cigarettes produced each year pollute the environment through climate change, water and land use, and toxicity.
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