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Hamburg, New York-They are called "butt kickers", but they have nothing to do with exercise. Their mission is to eliminate cigarette butt rubbish in the world. The world consumes 4 trillion cigarette butts every year.
To be honest, not many people are excited about finding cigarette butts. But for the Hamburg Kick team, finding a "live" or scraping one from a crack in the sidewalk is an excitement.
"We have the smallest billboard in the world, and we will do everything we can to educate people about the toxicity of cigarette butts," said Maureen O'Brien, chairman of the Hamburg Kick Team. "We will rotate the facts."
The billboard is located at the entrance of the Hamburg Village Peace Park. This is a hot spot for public parking lots and cigarette butt rubbish. It's about starting a conversation and raising awareness.
Butt Kickers is part of the Imagine Hamburg organization and was formed by Dave Zalikowski. He is a gardener in the village.
"I just do this for myself to make my job easier," Zalikowski said with a smile.
It starts with a container. So far, Zalikowski has earned 10 shares for the village.
"This is our best producer, and it's right in front of the bowling alley," Zalikowski said. "We got about 300 cigarette butts in about 30 days."
The team searched for cigarette butts once a week, and they also took the lead in buying 20 ashtrays for local businesses and ash cups installed on the village trash cans.
Butt Kickers attracted the attention of smoke-free WNY at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Therefore, Spectrum News 1 went to Roswell to ask Dr. Andrew Hyland for more information. He is Roswell's Behavioral Health Chairman and International Tobacco Control Expert.
"There are approximately 1 billion cigarette butts in western New York," Hyland said.
That is 1 billion per year. Dr. Hyland pointed out that we have all seen cigarette butts mishandled. But, have we ever thought about what this means?
"They eventually become tiny chemical barrels placed in the environment," Hyland said.
Dr. Hyland explained that when a smoker inhales, the toxins and chemicals in the cigarette will be inhaled into the cigarette butts.
"Look at them, you will see brown patterns, this is tar," Hyland said.
But this is not his only concern.
"The cigarette butts themselves, they really don't degenerate," Hyland said. "They may take about 10 years to degrade."
Hyland said it was because the filters on those buttocks were plastic. There is even more reason to ensure that these cigarette butts are finally put into the container and properly disposed of there.
"It's not good for anyone, and it certainly doesn't look good," said Maureen O'Brien, chairman of the Hamburg Kick Team.
They are always looking for volunteers.
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month
It is also important to solve the health problems caused by smoking. The American Lung Association has just released its fourth annual lung cancer status report. It found a disturbing trend in New York State.
Compared with white Americans, black Americans are 22% less likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer early. Early detection is the key to successful disease treatment.
A highlight of the report is the five-year survival rate, which has risen from 14.5% to nearly 24% in the United States. New York's survival rate ranks third.
Now back to Butt Kickers, the association praised their work and added that there are also issues that need to be considered in terms of lung quality and air pollution.
Trevor Somerfield, director of publicity for the American Lung Association in New York, said: "Try to solve this problem through other policy solutions, not only to treat lung cancer, but also to find ways to reduce the burden of air pollution." Color. It's like an electrician in a car, not just personally owned cars, but also trucks and even buses, just like our children ride every day. "
If you want to quit smoking, the New York State Smoker Quit Line is 1-866-NY-QUITS.