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“Uncle, do you still need your cigarette pack?”
Recently, a video of primary school students asking smokers for cigarette packs has attracted attention on social platforms. In the video, several children wearing red scarves politely ask smokers for discarded cigarette packs, saying they want to use them to make handicrafts. Many smokers readily agree, and netizens have praised the behavior.
It is understood that this is part of an environmental protection practice activity called “Turning Waste into Treasure” carried out by a local primary school. The school encourages students to collect recyclables in daily life and transform them into works of art through creative handiwork, which not only cultivates environmental awareness but also exercises hands-on ability. Cigarette packs, with their rich colors and diverse materials, have become a favorite material among children. After cutting and pasting, they can be made into lanterns, storage boxes, decorative paintings, etc.
The incident has sparked heated discussions among netizens. Some netizens believe that this activity not only allows children to understand the significance of environmental protection in practice but also indirectly reduces the phenomenon of littering cigarette packs. “It educates children and reminds smokers not to litter, killing two birds with one stone.” However, some opinions suggest that cigarette packs are printed with warning information such as “Smoking is harmful to health,” and frequent contact by children may have potential impacts. It is recommended that schools choose more appropriate recycling materials.
The school responded that before the activity, it had guided the students, emphasizing that cigarette packs are only used as handicraft materials, and at the same time, combined with tobacco control education to let the children understand the harm of smoking. “The purpose is to convey the environmental protection concept that ‘waste also has value’ and integrate health education into it.”
This incident has also brought the topic of “cigarette pack recycling” into public view. Environmental protection organizations said that cigarette packs are made of composite materials, which are difficult to recycle. If such activities can raise public awareness of garbage classification, it is a useful attempt, but it needs to be carried out on the premise of guiding teenagers to correctly understand the harm of tobacco.
