Kozmina and Rudnitsky consider what constitutes an appropriate resting place for cigarette butts
Littering in Kyiv is a widely accepted activity. Many folk here don’t think twice about tossing an empty wrapper on the ground. Even when there is a garbage can nearby. And while I would never be so presumptuous or culturally insensitive as to criticize this habit, I’ve often wondered why Ukrainians’ liberal litter ethic doesn’t carry over to cigarette butts. Apparently, chucking a butt on the street is a horrible offence. It is much more civilized to place it in a garbage can. And start a fire. Not a day goes by without me seeing some trash can smoldering due to a discarded cigarette. Plumes of smoke pour out of the concrete receptacles, stinking up entire blocks. If there was any plastic in that particular bin, the odor is particularly odious. And I have to wonder, is this mini volcano really preferable to a half-inch piece of cotton on the ground? Perhaps I wouldn’t be so vexed by this behavior if it weren’t so broadly accepted. But Ukrainians go out of their way to dispose of their butts properly. No matter that it occasionally burns down houses. No matter that it sends foul smelling toxins into the air. No matter that the streets are covered in litter anyway. They still insist on tossing butts in the trash. Maybe it is some Promethean instinct, rather than a sense of civic obligation. The gift of fire, perhaps, needs to be constantly reaffirmed to eschew the specter of a cold, fire-less world. Maybe the act of lighting trash bins on fire proves to Ukrainians that they still control some things in life. But, on the other hand, maybe it’s just plain stupid.
ANNA KOZMINA: Only punks, drunks flunk test of tidy butt disposal. Unlike Jake, I always notice cigarette butts littering streets and seldom come across flaming trash bins. Perhaps, Jake knows the right places. However, I know spots in Kyiv where the asphalt is covered with a thick layer of cigarette butts, mixed with spit and sunflower seed shells. Every high school backyard has a discrete smoking nook, with graffiti-marred walls, cigarette butts and broken glass. And at the PTU’s – vocation schools where bad kids with poor grades are sent starting in the ninth grade – students openly smoke, cuss and litter in front of the main entrance. I’m not a smoker, but I remember watching my punk high school friends. They would suck the last bits of nicotine out of a cigarette butt, throw it on the ground, trample it down and launch a large spit glob through their clenched teeth. For them the process carried an air of independence and maturity. You not only break the rules by smoking – you also litter. Perhaps this is why most Ukrainian adults prefer to hide their cigarette butts in trash bins. The logic is obvious: smoking is bad, smoking in public is even worse, at least I shouldn’t litter. Why some smokers forget to extinguish their butts and accidentally start fires is a mystery to me as well. Perhaps, they are paranoid and don’t want street bums to smoke their cigarette butts. Or maybe they are secret hooligans – former nerds who did not smoke at school but now want to catch up. Throwing a cigarette butt on the ground does not satisfy them – they want to start a fire. After all, Kyiv trashcans are made of concrete – they stink, but never burn down.
Do you have an opinion about the littering cigarette butt issue? Send us your response to [email protected]. Winner gets business lunch for two at Evrika. The last winner was Dina Smirnova for her response on the issue of superstition.
