Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Tuesday announced they have received a $20,000 grant from Keep America Beautiful to continue their work with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to reduce cigarette litter in state parks.

The grant is part of Keep America Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, the nation’s largest program aimed at reducing cigarette litter.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful will work with DCNR in state parks with recreational lakes, whitewater rafting, canoeing, kayaking as well as thousands of miles of hiking trails.  KPB will also assist park rangers with education outreach to the parks.

The parks participating in the 2017 CLPP Grant are Cooks Forest, Clear Creek, Kinzua Bridge, Maurice K Goddard, Ohiopyle and Raccoon Creek.

“The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program is a proven tool to address the number one littered item in America. Thanks to Keep America Beautiful, we can continue to invest in this highly effective program,” explained Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.

“We are increasingly optimistic about ending cigarette butt litter in America,” said Keep America Beautiful COO Becky Lyons. “Keep America Beautiful and our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program partners are dedicated to educating consumers on the hazards of litter and providing the tools to change their behavior. Recent cigarette litter reduction numbers show we are moving in the right direction towards making the littering of cigarette butts – and littering in general – socially unacceptable in our country.”

In 2016, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful partnered with the Fish and Boat Commission and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to focus on seven state parks with recreational lakes including Bald Eagle, Kooser, Moraine, Prince Gallitzin and Pymatuning.

The 2016 program resulted in a 76 percent reduction in cigarette litter in the final survey.

The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program consists of an initial scan or count of cigarette butts, the installation of cigarette butt receptacles and a final scan of cigarette butts. Previous participants have noted that the addition of butt collection devices help to reduce labor hours devoted to their removal.

Since its establishment, the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program has consistently cut cigarette butt litter by approximately half based on local measurements taken in the first four months to six months after program implementation. 

Survey results also demonstrate that as communities continue to implement and monitor the program those reductions are sustained or even increased over time. Keep America Beautiful has distributed nearly $3.3 million in grant funding since 2006 to support local implementation of the program in more than 1,700 communities.

Grants provided by Keep America Beautiful through the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program fund implementations across the country in a variety of community settings including downtowns, roadways, beaches, parks, marinas, colleges/universities, tourist locations, and at special event locations.

Tobacco products, consisting mainly of cigarette butts, are the most littered item in America, representing nearly 38 percent of all items littered, according to "Litter in America," Keep America Beautiful’s landmark study of litter and littering behavior.

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.

The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program is supported by funding from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company; RAI Services Company; and the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company.

The "Guide to Cigarette Litter Prevention" provides information about starting and maintaining a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in any community, and can be found online at PreventCigaretteLitter.org.

View the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program PSA video on Keep America Beautiful’s YouTube channel as well as the Cigarette Litter in America Infographic.

For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Click Here to become a member.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from KPB, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Discover them on Pinterest and visit their YouTube Channel.

Also visit the Illegal Dump Free PA website for more ideas on how to clean up communities and keep them clean and KPB’s new Electronics Waste website.

Sign up now for the 2017 Great American Cleanup of PA and set up your own cleanup and beautification event through May 31.

NewsClips:

Op-Ed: Let Cities And Towns Tax Plastic Bags

Editorial: Thanks To Wilkes-Barre Cleanup Volunteers

[Posted: May 9, 2017]

5/15/2017