Earth Day, April 22
Public health advocates across the state have an opportunity to raise awareness about the devastating consequences to our environment of tobacco growing, manufacturing, and use.
Resources to Take Action Locally
LEARN MORE
Get educated on how tobacco impacts the environment.
Read these Tobacco and the Environment Key Messages
View the video below to learn more about the various ways tobacco harms the environment
PLEDGE TO BE TOBACCO-FREE
Commit to supporting a healthier planet by living tobacco-free. Use this pledge template on Instagram to share what you will do on Earth Day instead of using tobacco. Instructions on how to use the pledge template can be found here.
SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Use your social media pages to share information about tobacco’s impact on the environment. Consider sharing the Tobacco and the Environment video, posting one (or more!) of the messages below, or use the Key Messages resource to create a new post. Need help with posting messages? Want the messages customized for local use? Contact info@cyanonline.org and the CYAN team can help.
ENCOURAGE QUIT ATTEMPTS
Support friends and families in quitting tobacco. Quit tips and resources for youth and young adults are available at cyanonline.org/quit-tobacco. All Californians can get help quitting at www.nobutts.org or www.novapes.org.
CLEAN UP YOUR COMMUNITY
Walk around your neighborhood and community (practicing proper social distancing) and clean up tobacco waste. Make sure to wear gloves and bring an air-tight container to hold the waste. Take note of the types of products you are picking up and where, for example, near a park or school. Share your findings with with coalition members, community leaders, and the media.
EDUCATE DECISION MAKERS
Reach out to local decision makers, state legislators, and campus administrators and educate them on how tobacco use impacts your local communities. Working on a smoke/tobacco-free policy? Utilize information about tobacco’s impact on the environment to further encourage smoke/tobacco-free policy adoption.
Resources College Campus Events
Due to California’s current shelter-in-place orders, CYAN is unable to send college and university campuses free tote bags for the 2020 Earth Day event. Please use the following resources to learn more about tobacco’s impact on the environment and modify recommended activities to educate campus community members on benefits of smoke/tobacco-free policies.
The Earth Day Toolkit provides a collection of ideas for hosting an event on campus. The Toolkit includes sample media such as a news advisory, press release, and advertisements; Earth Day event ideas; cigarette butt litter cleanup tips; and other resources to support your campus event.
EARTH DAY TOOLKIT - FULL PDF
We encourage all campuses to host Cigarette Butt Pickup Events in the weeks leading up to Earth Day. Collected butts can be displayed in a clear, smell-proof container at your event. If you've collected and saved butts over the years, your display can show your campus community the progress that you've made over the years. If this is your first time collecting butts, your display will show your campus that there is a problem that needs to be addressed.
CYAN CIGARETTE BUTT PICKUP EVENT PROTOCOL
By using CYAN's Cigarette Butt Pickup Event Protocol each year, you will be able to accurately compare your results year after year.