Transcript Earth Day Presentation 2011 - CATobaccoFreeColleges.org A

Celebrate Earth Day
Live Tobacco-Free
Earth Day 2011
Earth Day 2011
• In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth
Day as a way of forcing environmental issues
onto the national agenda. Shortly thereafter,
Congress authorized the creation of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to tackle
environmental issues.
• This year’s event marks the 41st anniversary of
Earth Day and the U.S. EPA.
Destruction for Addiction:
Tobacco’s Effect on the Environment
This presentation was created by CYAN and made possible with funds received from the Tobacco Tax Health Protection Act of 1988
- Prop. 99, through the California Department of Public Health, under Grant No. 10-95121, administered by PHFE Inc. For more
information about CYAN, visit www.cyanonline.org.
Tobacco Production
• Tobacco is grown in more than 120 countries on almost 4
million hectares of land worldwide.
(1 hectare = 2.47 acres)
• China is the world’s largest producer followed by Brazil,
India, the United States, and Indonesia.
• In 2006, 85% of tobacco was grown in low- and middleresource countries.
• Since the 1960’s the bulk of production has been moving
from North America to Africa and Asia.
– In 1978, the U.S. was home to 188,650 tobacco farms.
– In 1999, U.S. tobacco farms had dropped to approximately 90,000
farms.
Source:
•
Shafey, O., Eriksen, M., Ross, H., & Mackay, J. (2009). The tobacco atlas (3rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: Bookhouse Group.
•
Source for Since the …
• Tobacco production
has increased 128% in
developing countries
between 1975-1997
• Tobacco production
has decreased 31% in
the United States
between 1975-1997
• In 2000, China, Brazil
and India accounted
for over ½ of global
production
Source: Longwood University.
http://www.longwood.edu/staff/hardinds/Tobacco/Maps_and_graphs.htm
Growing
Tobacco
The Cycle of Tobacco
Consumption
Farming / Growing
Manufacturing
Tobacco Farming
• Land Preparation
– Plowing & discing to kill old root system, level fields, bury old crop refuse,
break up the soil and incorporate pre-plant pesticides.
• Seeding
– Planted in seed beds outside
• Soil is sterilized
– Burning, steaming, or through chemical application
• Fertilizer is applied
• Covering applied and removed after seeds sprout
• Canvas placed over sprouted plants and more fertilizer is applied
• Plants trimmed several times to grow uniformly
– Planted in greenhouse
• Seeds planted in segmented trays that float on a pool of water
• Fertilizer and pesticides are added as needed
• Plants are clipped to remove the upper part of the follage
Tobacco Farming
• Transplanting
– Plants are transplanted into the fields by hand or by a transplanting
machine
– Fertilizers, insecticides and water are added to soil
– Soil is cultivated to loosen and remove weeds
– Tobacco requires 70 to 130 days from date of transplanting to reach
maturity in the field
• Irrigation
– Promotes faster growth and earlier maturity
– Needed during harvest to help yellow properly during the curing
process
– Risks which reduce crop production:
• Extended rain after crops have been watered (over watering)
• Introducing disease to crops from water sources
Tobacco Farming
• Crop Management
– Chemical application
• Fungicides, insecticides, fumigants, pesticides
– Crop rotations
– Cultivation
• Topping & Suckering
– Topping
• Cutting off the flower that grows on the top of the plant
• Allows nourishment to flow directly to the leaves
– Suckering
• Removing the suckers / lateral shoots from the plant by hand or with
sucker suppressing chemicals
– Suckers take away nutrients from the growing leaves
Chemical Concerns
• Methyl Bromide used on
tobacco seeds
– Considered a significant
ozone depleting substance
• Chemicals run into
waterways
– Water used for drinking,
washing food, cooking,
bathing, washing clothes,
etc.
– Chemicals kill off local
marine life in waterways
Health of Tobacco Workers
• Tobacco is a labor intensive crop
– 3000 person hours per year per 1 hectare of tobacco
– 298 hours for beans
– 265 for maize
• The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that at least 25.6
million pounds of pesticides are used on tobacco crops
each year.
• The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of over 450
registered and legal pesticide products for use on tobacco.
The list includes chemicals that may cause cancer and birth
defects as well as pesticides that are potent nerve toxins.
• A 1990 study found that approximately 25 million pesticide
poisonings occur annually in developing nations.
• Little education about the proper use and dangers of these
chemicals is given to tobacco farmers.
• 55% of Brazilian farmers do not use protective clothing
such as masks, gloves, boots, and long-sleeved or waterrepellent overshirts.
• Top reasons for not wearing
protective clothing include:
– the cost of the equipment, and
– clothing not designed for the climate.
• Protective suits are sold by leaf companies to Brazilian
farmers for US$37, a cost of more than one-quarter of the
average monthly salary of tobacco farmers in the region.
Tobacco Farming
• Harvesting
– Removal of mature ripe leaves from plants
• Indicated by beginning to yellow a signal that chlorophyll is beginning to
break down
• Done by machine or by hand
• Curing
– The process that brings about the rapid destruction of chlorophyll,
giving leaves their yellow appearance, converting starch into sugar and
removing moisture them
– Curing Process :
• Flue-cured
• Air-cured
• Fire-cured
Curing Tobacco Classifications
Flue-cured
• Dried in a closed building with
furnace driven heat directed
from flues or pipes that extend
from a furnace into the barn.
Air-cured
• Dried in barns with an open
framework. Barns are equipped
with ventilators that can be
opened or closed to control
temperature and humidity.
Fire-cured
• Dried with low-burning wood
fires on the floors of closed
curing barns. Heat, humidity and
ventilation is regulated by
farmers.
Tobacco’s Effect on the Environment
Tobacco Farming
Deforestation
Soil
Erosion
Flooding
Nutrient
Depletion
Loss of
Habitat
Biological Diversity
Global
Warming
Deforestation
• Wood used for:
– Fuel for curing (69%)
• Most commonly used in poor
countries like in most of Africa, Brazil,
India, Thailand and the Philippines.
• The curing of tobacco is responsible
for the loss of 1/6 to 1/8 of all forests
on earth.
• Of the 5.5 million tons of global
tobacco produced, 2.5 million tons
are cured by burning wood.
– Poles for curing barns (15%)
– Paper & paperboard products (16%)
• Wood used for curing tobacco in
developed countries is taken from
developing countries
Deforestation
• Soil Erosion
Ecological Destruction
Flooding
– Trees act like sponges to absorb large amounts of water Without tree
and plant presence, rainwater runs off, thus, washing away topsoil
– Soil washes away into rivers and waterways
– Clogged waterways lead to flooding
– Pesticides flow into waterways with the eroded soil
• Nutrient Depletion
– The tobacco plant absorbs nutrients faster than other crops
* Without the nutrients in the soil, it is impossible to grow food crops
– Pesticides / fertilizers are used on tobacco crops that makes the soil
unfit for growing food crops
– One study found that in Africa, farmers had to wait for three years
before they could grow anything else on the land used to grow
tobacco
Deforestation
Ecological Destruction
• Loss of Habitat / Biological Diversity
– Destruction of forests leads to the extinction of many species of plants
and animals
– Approximately 6,000 species of animals and plants become extinct
every year as a result of deforestation
– Species dependent on forest for food, shelter, water and living space
– Species being destroyed before they have been identified
• Global Warming
– Many scientist believe that deforestation causes global warming
• Less trees = more carbon dioxide released into atmosphere
• Burning of trees to clear land = increased carbon dioxide
• Curing tobacco by burning wood = increased carbon dioxide
Regional Deforestation
AFRICA
• Tobacco grown in Malawi, South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Sri
Lanka, Kenya, Nigeria, and
Morocco
• 5% of deforestation is caused by
tobacco
• Malawi
– 20% of deforestation is caused
by tobacco
– 80% of wood cut is used for
tobacco
– 4% of land is dedicated to
producing tobacco
– The forests represent one of the
countries few assets
Regional Deforestation
BRAZIL
• 100,000 tobacco farmers
• need 60 million trees a year
for tobacco
• BAT claims Brazil used 24.7
million trees for tobacco
curing and 217.5 million
trees were replanted
– Industry does not disclose
how many trees survived
Afforestation Programs
• Tobacco companies claim they have strong afforestation programs
that promote the planting of renewable woodlands around the
world
• Tree planting season coincides with tobacco and food planting
season
• Tree growth takes up to 10 years
• Farmers are hesitant on using land to grow trees if there land is
unusable for 10 years, especially if the land is being used to grow
fuel which can be obtained in other areas
• Many newly planted trees are cut for fuel before they reach full
growth
• Eucalyptus tree is most commonly planted
– Thirsty tree
– Takes water supply from other crops / trees
– Eucalyptus wood is preferred for building, not tobacco curing
British American Tobacco Calendar Cover
Manufacturing Tobacco
Tobacco Manufacturing
• Manufacturing of tobacco produces
– Liquid waste
•
•
•
•
Tobacco slurries
Solvents
Oils
Greases
– Solid waste
•
•
•
•
•
•
Paper
Wood
Plastic
Unusable tobacco
Packaging materials
Dirt
– Airborne waste
• Nontoxic odors of manufacturing
• In-plant dust
• Tobacco volatiles and particles
Nicotine as Waste
• Nicotine is an anti-parasitic plant pesticide
• Nicotine = hazardous & toxic chemical if waste exceeds
500 mg per kg dry weight
• 1994 – EPA classifies Nicotine as a hazardous chemical
• 1995 – 3 million kg of a “nonrecyclable, powdery,
nicotine-containing waste was produced from 55,300
million cigarettes manufactured in Italy
• Based on these figures, it was estimated that 38,870,000
kg of nicotine waste was produced in the US and
300,274,000 kg of waste was produced globally
Human
Consumption
Cigarette Litter
• Cigarette filters have been
found in stomachs of fish,
birds, whales, marine
animals, and land animals
• Cellulose acetate filters take
approximately 5 to 25 years
to decompose
• Chemicals from filters bleed
into soils, waterways and
runoffs from urban
environments
Butt Litter on College Campuses
• Cleanups conducted in
Spring 2010 at two San
Diego Universities
resulted in 31,000 butts
collected by 69
volunteers in one hour.
• The rate of pickup was
approximately 380
butts per volunteerhour.
Source: Sawdey, M., Novotny, T., Skinner, C., Nguyen, M., Dutton, R., & Smyser, J. (2011).
Cigarette Butt Pollution Project. San Diego State University, Graduate School of
Public Health.
Fires
• Globally cigarettes are responsible for
an estimated
– 1 million fires per year
• In the U.S., cigarettes are responsible
for an estimated
– 100,000 fires per year
•
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1 in 8: trees cut down in the world for tobacco growing or curing
7.8: pounds of wood needed to cure one pound of tobacco
300: the number of cigarettes produced from one tree
20 million: number of people worldwide who could be fed if
farmland grew food instead of tobacco
1 in 3: trees used to cure tobacco in Malawi
275,000,000,000: cigarette packets made each year
300 million: cigarette butts thrown away in the UK
12%: deforestation caused by tobacco in Southern Africa
16: number of applications of pesticides during the three month
period before the seedling is transplanted to the field
500,000: acres of forest lost to tobacco farming each year
95%: Brazilian tobacco treated with methyl bromide – a substance
that depletes the ozone layer
10: average number of years it takes a cigarette butt to decompose
Sources
• American Cancer Society. Tobacco Atlas. 2006.
• Center for Integrating Research and Learning at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida
State University
• Chapman, Simon. Tobacco Control. 1994;3:191-3.
• Heist, Helmut. Global Assessment of Deforestation
Related to Tobacco Farming. Tobacco Control.
1999:8;18-28.
• United Nations Environmental Programme. “MAP to
a Health Harvest.”
• www.cigarettelitter.org