04/15/24 - 66 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/msuwtctm
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Keep PA Beautiful Expands Successful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program With Grants
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Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful announced Friday a 28.5 percent reduction in cigarette litter at five PennDOT Welcome Centers as a result of the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. As a result of this success, KPB is offering grants to communities to expand the program and a special "Guide to Cigarette Litter Prevention" to duplicate that success elsewhere.
The program, initially launched in 2011, included public education messaging that a cigarette butt not properly disposed is litter; the distribution of free pocket ashtrays to adult smokers; and the installation of ash receptacles in the program area.
After completing a follow up scan (a recount of littered cigarette butts) in the program area, the research team was able to determine the difference this litter prevention program makes in reducing cigarette butt litter.
Building off of this success, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is announcing an expansion of the CLPP program in Pennsylvania.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful was recently awarded grant funding to implement the CLPP program at five PennDOT Welcome Centers located in Mercer, Washington, Greene, Fulton and Franklin Counties.
Additionally, in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful will implement the program at Pine Grove Furnace, Blue Knob and Canoe Creek State Parks.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to bring these valuable anti-litter resources to Pennsylvania. Through partnerships with both PennDOT and DCNR, we plan to demonstrate again that with the appropriate tools and resources, we really can change people’s behavior when it comes to litter and illegal dumping, ” explained Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.
Nationally, Keep America Beautiful reports an average 54 percent reduction of cigarette litter in the communities implementing KAB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program during 2011. In 2011, the program’s ninth year, there were 252 grant-supported implementations across the country including downtowns, roadways, beaches, parks, marinas, colleges/universities, tourist spots, and at special events.
Over the past six years, the CLPP has consistently cut cigarette butt litter by half based on local measurements taken in the first four to six months after implementation. Survey results also showed that as communities continue to monitor the program; those reductions are sustained or even increased over time. For example, eight communities that started programs between 2007 and 2009 showed a total average reduction of 74 percent when measured again in 2011.
"Changing ingrained behaviors, such as littering, requires a long-term and sustained commitment,” says Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “We’re clearly seeing evidence that the longer a community focuses on anti-litter education programs, the more successful their efforts will be.”
Tobacco products, consisting mainly of cigarette butts, are the most-littered item in America, representing nearly 38 percent of all items according to "Litter in America", KAB’s landmark 2009 study of litter and littering behavior.
In response to this issue, KAB developed the CLPP with funding from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company. In 2010, the program received additional support from RAI Services Company. Since its inception, the program has been implemented in over 1,000 U.S. communities.
Research has shown that even self-reported “non-litterers” often don’t consider tossing cigarette butts on the ground to be "littering." Keep America Beautiful has found that cigarette butt litter occurs most often at transition points—areas where a person must stop smoking before proceeding into another area. These include bus stops, entrances to stores and public buildings, and the sidewalk areas outside of bars and restaurants, among others.
To address cigarette butt litter, KAB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program recommends communities integrate four proven approaches: encourage enforcement of litter laws, including cigarette litter; raise awareness about the issue using public service messages; place ash receptacles at transition points such as entrances to public buildings; and distribute pocket or portable ashtrays to adult smokers.
Guide & Grants
The "Guide to Cigarette Litter Prevention" provides information about starting and maintaining a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in your community and can be found online.
CLPP grant applications are currently being accepted until March 14 for local programs. Call Todd Crouch at Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful for more information, 724-836-4121 Ext. 103.
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2/27/2012 |
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