Contemporary society is creating a new landscape, one that is composed of the detritus resulting from unprecedented levels of consumption. The magnitude of waste that is discarded is of unfathomable proportion and consequence. With horror and awe, I explore the proliferation of trash. Through A Year Of My Cigarette Consumption, I have located myself within this production of waste. Intrinsic to the decline of environmental stewardship is a plague of disregard, irresponsibility, and apathy. I have illustrated a facet of my own culpability in this global problem.

In the United States:
•There are 45.3 million smokers
•198,414,000,000 cigarettes are smoked a year
•The majority of waste related to cigarette consumption becomes litter
•Cigarette butts are the most commonly littered item, resulting in an estimated 74,405,205 pounds of litter a year
•Cigarette butts take up to 12 years to biodegrade
•There are more than 4,000 toxins in most cigarette butts

•I smoke about 12 cigarettes a day, or 4380 cigarettes a year
•I often throw my cigarette butts on the ground
•I am creating 26.28 ounces of toxic litter every year