Four state parks have seen a 48 percent reduction in cigarette litter at the midpoint of a joint Keep PA Beautiful and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources project to implement the national Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in participating parks.
Another count will be taken in April to determine the final reduction of cigarette litter attributed to the program and it’s recommended approaches toward litter.
The state parks include Benjamin Rush [Philadelphia], Nockamixon [Bucks County], Ridley Creek [Delaware County] and Tyler [Bucks County].
This is the ninth year Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has received funding from Keep America Beautiful to run the anti-cigarette litter program.
Corey J. Snyder, Park Manager at Tyler State Park said he has seen a significant reduction in cigarette litter throughout the day use areas where the receptacles have been installed--
“Giving the public a place to dispose of their waste in an appropriate container has made all the difference. They are visible, clean and accessible. The public has also reached out to us and thanked us for providing them. We are extremely grateful to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful for making it possible.”
To combat litter, the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program advocates for the enforcement of litter laws, including cigarette litter; raising awareness about the issue; placing ash receptacles at transition points like entrances to public buildings; and distributing portable ashtrays to smokers.
“By focusing on Pennsylvania State Parks with recreational lakes and tributaries to the Delaware River and Bay, we can prevent cigarette litter from ending up in our local waterways and eventually our oceans where they leach toxic substances and are mistaken for food by birds and marine animals,” explained Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “We are thankful to Keep America Beautiful for providing funding and the State Parks for working with us to implement this highly effective program at a local level.”
The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program created by Keep America Beautiful in 2002, is the nation's largest program aimed at eliminating cigarette litter.
Since its inception, the program has been successfully implemented in more than 1,800 urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide.
Over the past decade, participating communities have consistently cut cigarette butt litter by 50 percent based on local measurements taken in the first four months to six months after program implementation.
More information about the program is available at the KPB Cigarette Litter Prevention Program webpage.
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 Electronics Waste website.
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[Posted: November 25, 2019] www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com
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