Yeah... the callousness of smokers and their littering is unacceptable. I understand that throwing your cigarette in the trash can be a fire hazard sometimes, but put the cigarette out and throw it out. Some smokers just seem to love flicking that still-burning cigarette into the road like it's no big deal.
Smoker in San Francisco here. I've thought about this quite a bit and here's my dilemma.
1. It is illegal to smoke indoors
2. San Francisco has made it illegal to have ash trays outdoors
3. Cigarettes set trash on fire so it's not acceptable to put them in the bin
4. Cigarettes have a tax on every pack earmarked to fund street clean-up
I'd prefer to not throw my cigarettes on the ground, but I've been left with no real alternative. Also, I've specifically paid a tax that should fund that clean-up.
As someone who smokes occasionally, it sounds to me like you're just making excuses. In the past 10 years or so, I don't recall ever having to throw a butt on the ground. There was always an alternative.
Regarding your #4, that sounds nice and all, but that doesn't keep butts from ending up in streams and strewn all throughout the environment.
So often people will throw their butts on the sidewalk or in the street even when there's a cigarette-specific receptacle right nearby. There seems to be a cool factor there with the way people flick their butts away.
My technique is to rub out the burning part above the filter on the bottom of my shoe and then throw the filter in the next bin I see. That's just one idea; I'm sure there are many others.
I think what I've mention already should outline the impracticality of your suggestion. It's hard to distinguish between a cigarette that's fully extinguished or not. This is why ashtrays are made of glass or contain sand, you can't set it on fire. Smokers are easy to demonize when you don't understand their dilemmas. Don't worry we're pretty used to it. Most smokers I know understand their habit bothers people and do their best to not cause a burden on others. When society has set up rules that make it impossible to do something properly, don't be surprised when people don't.
So smush it properly with your shoe and then put it in your pocket until you get home or find a worthy receptacle. If I have a granola bar wrapper in my hand and there's no trash cans nearby, I don't throw it on the ground; I hold it in my hand/pocket/bag until I can dispose of it. Cigarette filters are not a special case in this thinking.
To all those that provided more suggestions, yeah there are other ways to deal with this.
You could carry a portable ashtray, sure. But your pockets are already stuffed, you're carrying your cell phone, wallet, keys, cigarettes and a lighter already. Plus those things stink. As a smoker, you already stink, and you're washing your hands, eating mints to futher ensure you don't bother the people around you with the smell of it.
You could extinguish it fully on the sidewalk. The same sidewalk that is pissed and shit on daily in San Francisco. I'd rather not touch my hands to it.
You're constantly demonized by the people around you. Random strangers call you callous in public forums. You're subject to the passive-agressive coughs, the glares from passer-bys and the occassional snarky comment.
The life of a smoker is one of constant inconvenience. Eventually, you just decide you've had enough. It's not worth it anymore. You throw your cigarette on the sidewalk and move on with your day. You don't feel good about it, and you wish you could of done better.
Scrape the burning cherry off or mash it into the concrete. It's cool enough to touch almost immediately, so it's certainly not going to be setting bins on fire.
In this case, you just smash the flasme in the floor and then throw in the trash. There is minimum hazard of the thing catch fire, specially if it has a cover.
Many places have designated trash for butts.
Where I work, thare is a company that collect these cans, and transform in paper.
After 2 years they are now being proffiteble.
But as a smoker, I fell terrible when there is a trash can in the place, but there are lots of butts in the floor. Makes me mad.
This is the essence of "Broken Windows" policing, and at least in the US has proven to be a broken policy. A large number of factors, specifically officer discretion turn these types of minor offenses into taxes levied against the poorest communities. Also, I'm not sure I want the armed enforcers of the state getting into altercations with otherwise law abiding folks over littering.
The failings of the broken windows policies hinge on their faulty premise: that the sight of minor crimes going unenforced leads to people brashly escalating to higher crimes.
I don't believe this premise, yet I wonder sometimes if keeping the peace in regards to smaller offenses would lead to fewer incidences of anger turning to road rage or violent crime. If people do not feel safe or that they have civil outlets for resolution of grievances, perhaps they're more violent? I'm curious what the more social science oriented on this site might know about this.
In any case, there's still yet another reason to enforce laws against small crimes: littering is a terrible thing in itself!