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Stamping out an unsightly pollutant

By James Healy

As China grows more determined to solve air pollution, things certainly seem to be looking up. But don't look down, or you'll realize how awful we're doing at ground level.

I'm not talking about heavy metals in the soil - another serious issue the government has resolved to tackle - but something far simpler.

There's even a reasonable, though potentially challenging, solution to this vexing sort of pollution, a campaign to clamp down and clean up that I call "No Ifs, Ands or Butts".

Cigarette butts, that is. Just look around. They're everywhere underfoot. If enough people notice and object, China could stamp out this ubiquitous annoyance.

To be fair, not all smokers are inconsiderate, though the number who continue to puff in public places like restaurants, even in Beijing where it is illegal, might cause one to wonder on this point.

However, many smokers do indeed seem to have no regard whatsoever for the cleanliness of the nation's streets and sidewalks or the beauty and magnificence of its parks and landscaping. One cigarette after another, ad nauseam, the worst of these human chimneys flick their butts hither and yon, as if a magical elf has been designated just to clean up after them.

Go ahead, count. You'll find cigarette butts strewn along streets, in crosswalks, on sidewalks, in flower beds, in bushes – you name it. And let's be frank: These smokers' remnants are filthy, toxic and unsightly.