The warm weather makes us all feel like enjoying the outdoors. The Community Partnerships for a Tobacco Free New York is conducting a campaign highlighting the benefits of tobacco-free outdoor recreational areas. One of the objectives of this campaign is to raise awareness about the impact that tobacco litter has on our environment.

Tobacco litter is poisonous to children and wildlife. As anyone who has taken a 2-year-old to a playground can tell you, cigarette butts are the most common form of litter. Seeing your child pick up a cigarette butt and try to put it in his or her mouth is an experience most parents would gladly do without. The American Poison Control Centers report that more than 5,400 children were poisoned by the ingestion of cigarette butts in 2008.

Cigarette butts are not made out of cotton and they are not biodegradable. Most cigarette butts are made up of plastic-like cellulose acetate fibers and can take years to decompose. Meanwhile, rain washes all of the chemicals (such as cadmium, lead and arsenic) out of the cigarette butts into our ground water and other marine environments. Cigarette butts have been found in the stomachs of fish, whales, birds and other marine animals.

Currently, the city of Gloversville and the town and village of Broadalbin, along with more than 300 municipalities in New York, have enacted outdoor smoking policies.

If you are interested or would like more information, call Project Action at 841-7123 or visit www.TobaccoFreeNYS.org.

RACHEL TRUCKENMILLER

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