How to Field Strip a Cigarette

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: May 6, 2021 References Tested

Field stripping a cigarette is the process in which a cigarette is broken down and properly disposed of. Proper disposal of cigarettes is really important as cigarette filters are not biodegradable and are therefore extremely harmful to the environment. There are a couple of different ways to field strip cigarettes and both are helpful in preventing unnecessary pollution. These two main methods to use when field stripping are rolling out the cigarette, and unwrapping the cigarette.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Rolling out the Cigarette

1
Pinch the cigarette between your fingers. Make sure to pinch it somewhere between where the filter starts and where the cigarette has been burnt to. Try and get a nice firm grip as you must pinch it reasonably firmly for this process to be effective.
- This works for cigarettes that have been extinguished already and also for cigarettes that are still burning.
- If the cigarette is still burning, be careful with how close you get to the burning portion of the tobacco. Don't get closer than 1 centimetre (0.39 in). If you do, you might burn yourself!
2
Roll it firmly backward and forward between your fingers. Do this several times until the tobacco falls out. If the cigarette is lit, doing this will extinguish it. Don’t worry too much about the tobacco that falls out as it is biodegradable.^{[1]
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- You need to really pinch the cigarette rather than just hold it between your fingers. If you don’t pinch it, you won’t unravel the cigarette or extinguish it.
- Feel free to collect the tobacco as well as the filter and paper, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
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3
Put the filter and paper in your pocket. Look on the ground for any paper that you may have dropped. Also, make sure that anything you put in your pocket is completely extinguished as otherwise, you may burn a hole in your pocket.^{[2]
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- If you don’t have a pocket, put this trash somewhere else such as in a backpack, in a purse, or even just in your hand to hold.
- The main thing is that you hold onto the filter and whatever else you have broken down so that you are able to throw it away properly.
4
Dispose of the filter later to ensure the trash is not in the environment. Find a trash can somewhere that you can put the filter in. Make sure to throw it in a trash can and not recycling, as recycling for cigarette filters is not a widespread program as of yet.^{[3]
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- You can recycle the paper of the cigarette but not the filter just yet. There have been some experimental programs created to try and recycle filters but at the moment these are still in the trial phase.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Stripping the Cigarette by Unwrapping It

1
Put out the cigarette by stamping it on the ground. Use your foot to do this if you’re wearing shoes. If you’re not wearing shoes, use some other kind of hard object that won’t be damaged by the cigarette; a large rock would even work quite well.
- The cigarette needs to be put out because if you try to unwrap it while it is still burning, you’re at risk of burning yourself.
- If the cigarette is already extinguished, you can disregard this step.
- Although the purpose of field stripping is to avoid putting the cigarette on the ground, the difference here is that you won’t be leaving the cigarette on the ground once you’ve extinguished it.
2
Pick up the cigarette and hold it by the filter. Make sure you have a good firm grip of the filter as you don’t want it to slip out when you unwrap it later. Try to hold it so that you aren’t touching any of the paper as this would interfere with the unwrapping process.^{[4]
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- If you have a table that you’re working on or some kind of surface, feel free to put the cigarette down on here so you have two hands to work with rather than one.
3
Unwrap the remaining paper to let the tobacco drop to the ground. Try to find the end of the paper from when the cigarette was rolled. This usually forms a small rise or bump in the cigarette. You may need to use your nails here to get under the lip of the paper.^{[5]
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- If you can’t seem to get under the paper for some reason, try using something with a fine tip like a knife or a pencil.
- If you still can’t get under the paper, then you can just rip it. However, when you rip it, it’s possible that the tobacco scatters everywhere which can be a pain if you are trying to collect this as well.
- The tobacco is ok to drop on the ground, but it also doesn’t hurt to collect this for disposal as well.
4
Dispose of the filter and paper in a trash can. You can recycle the paper but you cannot recycle the filter. If there aren’t any trash cans around, put the filter in your pocket or some other container so you can dispose of it later.^{[6]
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- The filter is designed to take out many of the toxic chemicals from cigarette smoke.
- Cigarette filters are made out of a form of plastic. This plastic is not biodegradable and, because it catches many toxic chemicals, it's even more dangerous to the environment once the cigarette has been used.

Warnings

In many places, littering of any kind is illegal and you may face a hefty fine if you are caught dropping cigarette butts on the ground.

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