What is it about smoking commercial tobacco that seems to make people think the world is their trash can?
I'm not sure about this either. I feel it's a learned behaviour and people are too polite to give people shit for throwing butts on the ground. When I was younger I worked at a gas station and the #1 thing I had to clean out of the parking lot was cigarette butts!
Yeah, you're probably right, it's one of those cultural norms that need to be actively changed, like getting people to bring shopping bags or a reusable coffee cup.