Flick. One cigarette butt leaves the car via the window and lands at the side of the road. Nobody gives it a second thought until later, when viewing the news, there's a report of a serious fire that destroyed acres of woodland, several buildings and threatened the lives of both humans and animals.

Yes, it happens, and far too often. A cigarette butt that isn't properly extinguished, even when dropped on the ground as we walk, can cause incredible damage. They've been known to blow into front-gardens where they've settled by a flammable object, and within a few minutes a butt dropped without thought has damaged an innocent person's property. They've rolled under cars where they've ignited oil leaks and blown into the faces of small children. Improperly extinguished cigarette butts have a lot to answer for.

But extinguished or not, cigarette butts are still one of the major pollutants of our time.

Wherever people tend to gather, there are always an increased number of cigarette butts to be seen. I think most will agree that they're ugly, but aesthetics aside, it's the toxins in the accumulated butts that are the real problem.

During storms and heavy rainfalls, the accrued butts are likely to find their way into drains where they are carried to rivers and/or the sea. Within each butt is a collection of dangerous toxins that were never meant to enter our bodies. That's why the filters are there, they're designed to catch and collect those toxins. Smoking tobacco