Community Members Raise Awareness About the Impact of Smoking With Cigarette Butt Cleanup Day of Action Marks “Great American Smokeout®”

Hancock Health and the Hancock County Tobacco Free Coalition are leading a “Waste Tobacco Filters – Poison By the Pound” Cigarette Butt Cleanup effort around Greenfield as part of the Great American Smokeout® on Thursday, November 21. Hancock County is one of dozens of Indiana communities participating in the national event. Since 1976, the American Cancer Society has hosted the Great American Smokeout® (GASO), a public awareness event to encourage people to quit smoking. GASO is celebrated on the third Thursday of November. Volunteers will pick up cigarette butts and weigh the total amount collected to demonstrate the many negative impacts of tobacco on the health and environment of our communities and raise awareness about the free resources available in our communities to help tobacco users quit, including the Indiana Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) and Hancock Health’s Commit to Quit classes. They have also challenged other businesses and organizations across Hancock County to participate throughout their respective communities.

 

WHAT: “Waste Tobacco Filters – Poison By the Pound” Cigarette Butt Cleanup

WHEN: The Great American Smokeout – Thursday, November 21, 2019 – 11am-12pm

WHERE: Hancock County Courthouse Plaza, Downtown Greenfield

WHO: Open to EVERYONE in the community who would like to help

WHY: Hoosier health is suffering by so many measures, and tobacco use is a leading cause. Cigarette butts gathered in Hancock County represent the huge burden that tobacco places on our health and our economy. But awareness is not enough. We are focused on solutions through our tobacco prevention and cessation efforts in our community led by Hancock Health and the Hancock County Tobacco Free Coalition.

 

Nicotine addiction, especially in cigarettes, is one of the strongest and most deadly addictions affecting people in our communities today. Cigarette smoking remains the number one preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. The Great American Smokeout® is the perfect day to highlight Indiana’s tobacco use problem.

 

For more information on FREE tobacco cessation resources available to the Hancock County community, call the Indiana Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit www.quitnowindiana.com and also visit Hancock Health’s website at www.hancockregionalhospital.org/wellness-education/classes and visit the “Smoking Cessation” link to register for our Commit to Quit classes.