Health department slates anti-tobacco weekend programs

Dueling anti-tobacco programs are being staged this weekend by the DuPage County Health Department.

Both are geared toward educating residents about the dangers of using tobacco products, but they go about it in different ways.

For those who like their anti-tobacco campaigns environmentally friendly, health educator Kathleen Brower is leading a group of volunteers on a cigarette butt cleanup of Naperville's Riverwalk from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Brower said her group will scour both sides of the downtown attraction for the litter and collect it in a five-gallon jug to show at future health fairs. This is the second year the group has performed the task.

"Now that everyone is forced to smoke outside, I suspect we'll get more than last year," she said. "We want to show what other detriments smoking has. It takes anywhere from two to 25 years for a cigarette butt to decompose depending on what it's made of."

Last year, they collected two and a half gallons of butts.

Puneet Khan, another of the department's health educators, is spearheading a three-day event at a DuPage Dragons series Friday through Sunday in Lisle. The college league baseball team's games will be the venue for "Strike Out Tobacco," Khan said.

The event will feature games, prizes and a drawing for baseball equipment autographed by many of the players.

"The event is geared toward young people about the dangers of smokeless tobacco and cigarettes, but if it grabs the attention of adults, that's great," Khan said. "We know these players are role models for young people and we hope that since the team is being supportive our event, the players will be tobacco-free as well."

The start time for Friday and Saturday is 7:05 p.m. and Sunday's game begins at 5:05 p.m. at Benedictine University in Lisle.

Khan said it was mere coincidence that both events are taking place during the same weekend. She said the health department stages anti-tobacco events throughout the year.

In fact, Brower said she plans to hold another area cleanup in August, but hasn't decided on a location. She wants to compare the amount of refuse in one area from year to year. She admits this year's Riverwalk cleanup numbers are likely to be skewed because of the public smoking ban that went into effect at the beginning of this year and forced smokers outside.

"I would be shocked if we find less cigarette butts than we did last year," she said. "And I was definitely surprised by how much cigarette litter we picked up in such a short amount of time last year."

For more information on either event, call the health department at (630) 682-7400.