Smoke-Free Beaches. No Ifs, Ands or BUTTS!

It was a warm sunny day on August 9th as the Southwest Peer Leaders crowded onto the beach toting tents, cameras, games, prizes and signs. They wanted people to know the affects of smoking on beaches, three of the main ones being: Denormalization, youth see all the cigarette butts and it looks like a lot of people smoke therefore making it more likely that they will smoke as well; Second hand smoke, even though you are outside, research shows that second hand smoke is still there and just as harmful as indoors; Environment, it takes up to 12 years for a cigarette butt to decompose, and over 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide each year. As well many animals mistake butts for food and end up dying or getting extremely sick.

We had great media coverage from newspapers, radio stations and television stations all over, as well as many participants and supporters that day. We hope that people are a little more aware of the actual affects of smoking on the beach, and that they remember that when they cover their Tobacco Industry Product butt in the sand, it doesn't just disappear.