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Rainbow flag over smoke
Each year, nearly 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes. Plastic pollution not only harms wildlife, but also jeopardizes the health of the 48 million people who rely on the lakes for their water supply. As plastic is exposed to the elements, it breaks down into small pieces called “microplastics” and releases toxins, which make their way into the Great Lakes food chain and drinking water.
The most common type of plastic litter in the world is hiding in plain sight. Many of us have become so accustomed to partially disintegrated cigarette filters scattered across popular beaches or lodged in cracks of the sidewalk, that we hardly even register them anymore. Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a type of plastic. When they wash into waterways, they not only break down into microplastics, but also release nicotine, heavy metals and other harmful chemicals. In Milwaukee alone, volunteers have picked up 40,000 smoking-related products at clean ups—equivalent to 1,500 packs of cigarettes and 2,000 packs of cigars.
Even before they reach the environment, tobacco and smoking related products have deadly impacts. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, over 16 million Americans are living with smoking-caused diseases which include cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Each year secondhand smoke contributes to over 40,00 deaths of nonsmoking adults. Tobacco use and exposure continue to be the leading preventable cause of death.
Education and Mobilization
While these figures are startling, they present an opportunity for plastic pollution activists to address the intersecting harms to environmental and public health caused by Big Tobacco and Big Plastic. Plastic-Free MKE, Milwaukee’s grassroots movement to end plastic pollution, is doing just that by joining forces with the City of Milwaukee’s Tobacco-Free Alliance. Formed in 2010 by the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute, the City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance (CoMTFA) works to “eliminate health disparities, highlight the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics, and implement effective tobacco prevention and control policy interventions” through education and community mobilization.
The CoMTFA started an initiative in 2019 to combat the environmental impacts of smoking products, playfully calling the new program Hold On To Your Butt MKE (HOTYB MKE). At its inception, HOTYB MKE installed 24 cigarette receptacles across the city, and has since collaborated with other organizations and volunteers to expand receptacles and organize clean ups. Plastic-Free MKE has worked with the program to educate community members, broaden their reach to more environmental organizations, and encourage local businesses to install receptacles through their Lake Friendly program.
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Installing receptacles and cleaning up smoking related litter are important ways to reduce environmental harms, but it’s also important to address the source of the litter. Rather than pointing fingers at those who smoke or vape, we must look to those who have been aggressively marketing to and manipulating the public for over half a century: Big Tobacco. Tobacco companies target those who are most vulnerable and marginalized, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community. A 2019 Wisconsin survey found that 24% of LGBTQ+ residents use tobacco, compared to 15% of non-LGBTQ+ residents. Youth are especially susceptible– in Wisconsin twice as many LGB+ youth smoke compared to straight youth. Structural inequities and ongoing discrimination mean LGBTQ+ individuals face a great deal of stress and social pressures, which make it more likely they will take up smoking or vaping, according to Charlie Leonard, Coalition Coordinator with the CoMTFA.
In Leonard’s words, “there’s a whole new generation getting hooked on nicotine through vape products.” Manufacturers and sellers of e-cigarettes (vape products) specifically target LGBTQ+ youth, marketing using the internet, retail environments, and recreational venues and events. Candy-like packaging and flavors are designed to appeal to kids, while advertisements use language like “freedom,” “choose” and “pride” to create a false sense of allyship with the LGBTQ+ community. For years Milwaukee’s PrideFest celebration accepted sponsorship from Big Tobacco, and allowed a smoking area called the Newport Pleasure Lounge where company employees handed out menthol cigarette coupons for $1-a-pack.
With considerable advocacy work from the CoMTFA, this all started to change. Twenty LGBTQ+ and allied health organizations supported Milwaukee PrideFest in offering smoke-free spaces in 2017, and rejecting tobacco company funding altogether in 2018. In 2019, young members of Neu Life Community Development FACT hosted an educational booth at the festival to share ugly truths about Big Tobacco with attendees. The CoMTFA has also developed educational materials, including their creative video series profiling local LGBTQ+ people impacted by tobacco. The Milwaukee LGBTQ+ community is winning the fight against Big Tobacco.
So how does this all relate back to plastic pollution?
The Summerfest grounds, where the PrideFest celebration is held, are located directly on the shore of Lake Michigan. That means cigarettes and vape products move from harming people on the festival grounds to harming the environment and the health of others indirectly if they reach the lake. During my time with Plastic-Free MKE as a Movement Co-Leader, we continually worked with the CoMTFA in encouraging event organizers to install receptacles and become entirely smoke-free when possible. We also directly engaged with a local LGBTQ+ youth group which was part of the CoMTFA.
The strong, ongoing collaboration between Plastic-Free MKE and the CoMTFA illustrates how local plastic pollution movements should address the intersection of environmental, social justice, and public health issues, and how they can have a greater impact as a result.
