5 ways smoking harms humans, animals, oceans and the planet

NO SMOKING! If you’re old enough to remember the iconic no smoking sign that started appearing in public from the 1970s, you will be aware of the concerted effort to inform and educate people around the world about the dangers of cigarette smoking. Smoking tobacco products used to be an accepted practice for a long time, with smoking allowed on airplanes and shopping malls and even separate smoking sections in hospitals and even schools. But as research revealed the permanent dangers that cigarette smoking brought to our bodies and to those around us, individuals and organizations worldwide began to adopt a more responsible attitude toward tobacco products and discourage its use. 

 

Each May 31st, the world gears up for World No Tobacco Day which was established by the World Health Organization to raise awareness on the dangers of smoking, hold tobacco companies to account and prevent future health complications and diseases by encouraging people to adopt a no smoking lifestyle. The 2025 theme for World No Tobacco Day is Unmasking The Appeal which reveals the suffering and harm caused by smoking which is often marketed as glamorous. This includes the harm that cigarette smoking does to our organs, the danger of secondhand smoking on our children and even pets, the plastic pollution caused by cigarette butts and the environmental damage done to our air quality both indoors and outdoors. 

 

This World No Tobacco Day, let’s examine 5 ways smoking harms humans, animals, oceans and the planet: 

 

Cigarette butts are made of… plastic 

One of the biggest misconceptions about cigarettes is that the filters on cigarette butts are made of cotton. It looks and feels a lot like cotton but it is in fact – plastic. Cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate which is a synthetic compound that is in fact plastic and one of the largest contributors to plastic pollution in our oceans. Each time you flick your cigarette butt onto the street or into a garbage can, that small piece of plastic will end up getting dumped into our oceans where it will float around for centuries disrupting and harming fish, turtles and other marine life. 

Involves animal testing in laboratories

When tobacco companies were first required to test the impact of cigarettes on various organs and observe tobacco addiction patterns, it was tested on the animal that most resembles humans: rhesus monkeys and other animals. In these experiments, animals were hooked up to machines that forced them to inhale cigarette smoke into their lungs, to study the effects. While most of these experiments have run its course, there are new products on the market such as vapes that require testing on animals to research its impact. 

Cigarette smoke worsens our AQI

Each time a person lights a cigarette, harmful and toxic emissions are released into the air and worsens our air quality. In research conducted in Europe, it was found that the carcinogens emitted through cigarettes produce 10 times more air pollution than the exhaust from a diesel car. This makes cigarette smoking one of the largest contributors to poor AQI plaguing parts of our world, especially here in India with air quality levels reaching dangerously high levels. For those who are environmentally conscious, adopting a no smoking approach can improve the air we breathe.

Second-hand smoking affects children and pets 

It has been said that secondhand smoking is just as dangerous to others than to the person smoking. This is because the chemicals in the exhaled smoke can affect the person breathing in that smoke which is also contaminated by the smoker. But in addition to smoking around people, even touching or kissing people or pet animals after smoking a cigarette can transfer harmful chemicals to their skin, hair and fur and have long term effects. The “no smoking” lifestyle therefore also has an impact on the health of people and animals around us, in addition to our own health.

Tobacco harms our bodies

The dangers of tobacco on our mouth, throat, lungs, heart, blood vessels, eyes and other vital organs has been well researched, documented and accepted around the world. The harmful consequences on a person’s health does not just affect them but has a negative effect on their families as well. The needless suffering that a smoker is forced to endure can be avoided by implementing a no smoking rule in the home, on breaks and when in a stressful situation. The need to smoke is psychological and a person can break this habit in their mind too. 

Adopt a no smoking life this World No Tobacco Day

Smoking has appealed to people across generations as a pastime that helps a person unwind, de-stress and calm down. But once a person inhales cigarette smoke, their bodies start fighting harmful chemicals that attack their organs and set in motion a process that causes eventual degeneration. This leads to even worse problems for that person in the future such as asthma, lung problems, blindness and cancers. The warning labels that tobacco companies have been forced to add to cigarette packs takes us one step closer toward convincing people to adopt a no smoking attitude. The real decision is with us. When the demand stops, so does the supply of products that cause so much harm to our planet and its life forms. 

 

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