Environmental Impact of Commercial Tobacco
Commercial tobacco products like cigarettes and e-cigarettes have a large impact on our environment. These products contribute to the litter problem, with cigarettes being the most littered product in the US and e-cigarettes contributing to the single-use plastic problem and electronic waste. Throughout their lifecycle, tobacco products contribute to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, litter, single-use plastic waste, and electronic waste, threatening our planet and our people.
Environmental Impact of Commercial Tobacco Toolkit
On this page, you can find a wide range of information about the environmental impacts of commercial tobacco. These resources include:
- Environmental Impact of Commercial Tobacco – Factsheet (PDF)
- Hazardous Waste Disposal – Fact Sheet (PDF)
“Not Sure What to do With that Used Vape?” - Youth E-Cigarette Environmental Infographic (PDF)
“How Do Vapes Harm the Environment?” - Additional Environmental Resources (PDF)
- Environmental Impacts Lesson Plan (PDF)
This is Chapter 9 of ANSR’s “Tobacco 101: A Teacher’s Guide to Anti-Tobacco Lesson Planning“
The following additional materials are available upon request:
- Environmental Impacts and Hazardous Waste Presentation
- Examples of Letters of Support and Letters to the Editors on the Environmental Impacts
To read more about the environmental impact of commercial tobacco, visit our blog posts: “Tobacco Industry Impact on the Environment” and “The Environmental Impacts of Vaping that the Tobacco Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know”.
Tobacco – Threat to our Environment (WHO SEARO)