TPCE AND CEASE HOST EAST BEACH CLEAN UP

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(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) – The Santa Barbara Public Health Department’s Tobacco Prevention and Cannabis Education program (TPCE) and the Coalition Engaged in a Smoke-free Effort (CEASE), invites all community members to join them in a beach clean-up event on Saturday, September 9, 2023, from 10 am- 12 pm at East Beach, 1400 East Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103.

Cigarette butts are the number one most littered item around the world. These toxic items, which are made from plastic, are easily swept from the streets and sidewalks into the sewer system or directly into the ocean, where they pollute the marine environment. Worldwide it is estimated that 1.68 billion pounds of cigarette butts end up as waste each year (UNDO, 2022). Members of CEASE and the TPCE staff seek to rid Santa Barbara County beaches of tobacco/smoking litter in order to protect the environment.

Coalition Engaged in a Smoke-Free Effort (CEASE) is a diverse 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. In order to accomplish this CEASE provides leadership and facilitates community mobilization, education, advocacy, and policy development.

The Tobacco Prevention Program provides a variety of education, cessation, and enforcement services to prevent youth from beginning tobacco and electronic smoking device use, to help tobacco user’s quit, and to 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. 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. We invite the Santa Barbara community to join us in our effort to raise awareness and keep Santa Barbara beaches free from tobacco waste” Santiago Segovia, Tobacco Preventions & Cannabis Education Program Manager.

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/73e9afafcd3c473db5fadf187a2820d9?fbclid=IwAR0 UAffIS2C10NWYmNHXQ9V5rYkxvutl88gCImwFiVV-sgmzXu4jXM5haGk

Reference: Cigarette Butts are Toxic Waste and Kill the Environment – UNDO.org (https://www.undo.org/environmental-impact/cigarette-butts-are-toxic-waste)