FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Brie Turek (407) 246-3106
Heather Allebaugh (407) 246-3423

KEEP ORLANDO BEAUTIFUL LAUNCHES
CIGARETTE LITTER PREVENTION PROGRAM

WHAT: On Monday, August 21, the City of Orlando’s Keep Orlando Beautiful program will join more than 50 cities across the country in adopting the National Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. As part of the program, the City will install cigarette ash receptacles and distribute baskets of pocket ashtrays to local businesses so that they may be given FREE to customers while supplies last. The new ash receptacles and pocket ashtrays are designed to give smokers the opportunity to properly dispose of their cigarettes and encourage them not to litter.

WHY: Cigarette butts are the number one source of litter in the U.S. representing over 34% of all debris collected in community cleanups. Food wrappers, caps and lids, and beverage bottles are the next most littered items. Cigarettes are not biodegradable, in fact, the white fibers in the filters are not cotton, but are composed of cellulose acetate which is a plastic designed to capture toxins. “Its very purpose is to trap chemicals, so in those butts there are chemicals that can leach out into the soil and groundwater,” said Jane Ferry of Keep Orlando Beautiful. Environmental conditions vary, but cigarette filters may take anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to degrade.

WHEN: Monday, August 21 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: Church Street on the City View Block between Division and Terry Avenues

BACKGROUND:
About Keep Orlando Beautiful, Inc.
Founded in 1987, Keep Orlando Beautiful, Inc. (KOB) is a nonprofit organization and certified affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. The program is administered by the Streets and Stormwater Division of the Public Works Department of the City of Orlando. We focus on achieving the mission of engaging individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environment. KOB offers a variety of much-needed community services that no other nonprofit or government agency in Orlando provides. Through our programs, we help create a healthier, safer, and more livable community environment by teaching individual responsibility, and engaging volunteers to help keep Orlando “The City Beautiful.”
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc. is a national, nonprofit public education and community improvement organization whose network of more than 540 local, statewide and international programs educate individuals about litter prevention, beautification, and ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and properly manage waste materials.
Through partnerships and strategic alliances with citizens, businesses and government, Keep America Beautiful's programs motivate millions of volunteers annually to clean up, beautify and improve their neighborhoods, creating safer and more livable community environments. Keep America Beautiful celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003.

 

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