News and Events
Indian River Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Members Participate in Local "Butts Off the Beach" Event
September 17, 2016
It was a beautiful fall day to clear the beach of litter!
A group of over 100 people including SWAT students, parents, Youth Guidance youth, their mentors, and Exchange members met for breakfast and clean up the beach. The SWAT Chapter’s Butts Off the Beach initiative partnered with Keep Indian River Beautiful and Exchange Club of the Treasure Coast to clean up South Beach.
Although smoking has decreased in the U.S., cigarette butts are still the most littered item found on sidewalks, streets, boardwalks, beaches and parks. The SWAT Chapter’s Butts Off the Beach clean-up campaign proved it once again when everyone picked up more butts than any other item.
Discarded cigarette butts are costly and harmful to the environment as well as ugly. They contain toxins potentially lethal to children, pets, and wildlife; the same chemicals that make tobacco use the number one cause of preventable death. Removal of discarded cigarette butts costs millions to tax payers across the U.S. Indian River County SWAT Chapter will continue to do their part by promoting their Butts Off the Beach campaign throughout the year.
For more information on the local SWAT Program, contact Leslie Spurlock @ LSpurlock@QuitDoc.com.
