The Santa Barbara Public Health Department’s Tobacco Prevention and Cannabis Education program (TPCE) and the Coalition Engaged in a Smoke-free Effort (CEASE), invite community members to join them in a beach clean-up event, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, Sept. 9 at East Beach, 1400 E. Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara.
Worldwide, cigarette butts are reportedly the No. 1 most littered item — it is estimated that 1.68 billion pounds of cigarette butts end up as waste each year, according to the tobacco watchdog group UNDO.
Cigarette butts, which are toxic and made from plastic, are easily swept from the streets and sidewalks into sewer systems or directly into the ocean, where they pollute the marine environment.
To help protect the environment, CEASE and the TPCE staff seek to rid Santa Barbara County beaches of tobacco/smoking litter.
CEASE is a coalition of individuals and organizations whose purpose is to protect the lives and health of Santa Barbara County residents. They focus on the harmful effects of tobacco products, secondhand smoke, emissions from electronic smoking devices, and the tobacco industry’s product marketing.
To reach its goals, CEASE provides leadership and facilitates community mobilization, education, advocacy, and policy development.
The Tobacco Prevention Program provides education, cessation and enforcement services to prevent youth from starting to use tobacco and electronic smoking devices; help tobacco users quit; and protect the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.
“Cannabis education is an effort to safely, legally and responsibly navigate our state’s adult-use marijuana landscape,” according to the Health Department. “We work to stay up to date with cannabis and our kids’ health and safety, and provide that information to the residents of Santa Barbara County.”
“Events like this one allow our coalition to raise awareness about the dangers associated with tobacco waste on our beaches,” said Santiago Segovia, Tobacco Preventions & Cannabis Education program manager.
“We invite the Santa Barbara community to join us in our effort to raise awareness and keep Santa Barbara beaches free from tobacco waste,” he said.
To join the CEASE Beach Clean Up, visit https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/73e9afafcd3c473db5fadf187a2820d9?fbclid=IwAR0UAffIS2C10NWYmNHXQ9V5rYkxvutl88gCImwFiVV-sgmzXu4jXM5haGk.