SDSU and CSUSM are presenting tobacco product waste-related research projects to promote smoking cessation
By Center for Tobacco and the Environment and collaborators
San Diego State University and California State University San Marcos are coming together to promote tobacco-free lives during this year’s Great American Smokeout on Nov. 16.
The Great American Smokeout is an event put on by the American Cancer Society on the third Thursday in November to encourage people to quit smoking. In support of the day, both SDSU and CSUSM will share their research on tobacco and smoking waste at a community meeting from 12-1 p.m. at Markstein 101 on CSUSM’s campus.
Researchers from SDSU’s Center for Tobacco and the Environment will present their Tobacco Product Waste Reduction Project. For this, they collected almost 30,000 pieces of tobacco-related waste items, such as cigarette butts and vape cartridges, from just 60 census blocks around the county. They then restarted the process beginning with the last block and found that within two months, 96% of the original amount of waste had reaccumulated.
Researchers used red circles to mark tobacco product waste when collecting data (Center for Tobacco and the Environment)
The team estimates that around 9 million pieces of tobacco trash pollute the eight largest cities in San Diego County and their next step in the project is to engage with the community to consider ways to limit waste. Those interested in getting involved can visit Center for Tobacco and the Environment.
“There’s a lot out there,” said Georg Matt, the project’s principal investigator. “Our goal is to figure out how to reduce tobacco product waste in neighborhoods, shopping malls, parks and beaches to zero.”
Conducted in collaboration with the University of California, Davis, CSUSM’s project “Tobacco, E-cigarette, and Cannabis Waste Randomized Controlled Trial” will study students’ perspectives on tobacco and vaping product waste. Student participants will watch videos, take surveys, and talk with researchers throughout a six-week intervention.
This project is led by CSUSM’s Kim Pulvers along with Elisa Tong and Susan Stewart from UC Davis. CSUSM and UC Davis students interested in participating can email tecwrct@gmail.com.
Through these studies, SDSU and CSUSM remind Great American Smokeout participants that quitting smoking is a key step for protecting the health of individuals and the environment.
These research projects were supported by funds from the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of the University of California, Grant Numbers T31IR1649 (Tobacco Product Waste) and T32SR4917 (Randomized Control Trial).