The Tobacco Control in Environmental Justice project will host a conference led by our Young Adult Advisory board. This conference will feature educational presentations about Tobacco Product Waste (TPW), provide opportunities and training for youth/young adult engagement, and include guest speakers. This event will specifically target young adults and those who work with young adults, but is welcome to all participants interested in tobacco waste! This conference will be held on June 24, 2023, from 10 am-3 pm, at the Oak Park Community Center in Sacramento, CA. After the conference, we will host a tobacco litter cleanup in Oak Park. Please RSVP by registering for the event at the link below. Registration is required*.

"In alignment with our mission, project staff have partnered with Sierra Club's Zero Waste Committee to strategize ways to make this event zero waste and sustainable. Attendees are encouraged to participate by bringing reusable water bottles/mugs, dishware, cutlery, and cloth napkins, taking public transit, walking, biking, and arranging carpools. To celebrate attendees' commitment to sustainability, we will be hosting a gift card giveaway!"

December 8th, 9am-1pm

In this forum, you will have the opportunity for open discussion with key partners, learn about new strategies, and gain networking opportunities. Our topic will focus on Tobacco Product Waste (TPW) and Environmental Justice! This forum will be virtual, and we welcome organizations that focus on adjacent topics such as smoke-free multi-unit housing, second-hand and third-hand smoke, general plans, environmental and conservation leaders, waste reduction advocates, and more. See you soon.

Featured Organizations

• Thirdhand Smoke Resource Center

• Tobacco Free Portfolios

• Bren School of Environmental Science & Management

• Boulder County

• Public Health Law Center

This webinar will discuss how Tobacco Product Waste (TPW) harms the planet, its people, and how the tobacco industry may be using your money to do it. Cigarette butts are the most pervasive single-use plastic trash (cellulose acetate) and the most littered item on the planet, while simultaneously leaching thousands of toxic chemicals into the environment. It may come as a shocking surprise that your retirement investments may be contributing to the problem. Please join us to learn more about how to avoid unknowingly supporting Big Tobacco and what can be done about it.

In this webinar, we will explore how plastics and tobacco have more in common than you may think! Hear from a diverse range of Sierra Club subject matter experts across the nation about the history and harms of plastic waste and why ubiquitous cigarette filter litter needs to be part of the conversation.

Did you know?

The Last Beach Cleanup recently launched a lawsuit against Terracycle and eight other companies including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Late July Snacks, Gerber, L’Oreal, Tom’s of Maine, and Clorox over misleading recycling claims and product labels. For more information, check out this factsheet created by the Beyond Plastics Campaign which goes into detail about the harmful environmental impacts of Recycle By Mail programs. Although not included in this infographic, programs like Terracycle also claim to recycle discarded Tobacco Product Waste (TPW). Contrary to popular belief, cigarette filters are not made of cotton, but of a non-biodegradable plastic called cellulose acetate. TPW continuously breaks down into smaller microplastics and leaches over 7000 chemicals into the environment.

Recycle By Mail companies like Terracycle claim to turn discarded cigarette filters into “useful” items like park benches and picnic tables. Do you really want your children sitting on a park bench made of toxic forever chemicals? Claims to recycle a product that leaches toxic waste and harmful microplastics into the environment is corporate greenwashing!

This America Recycles Day, let’s spread awareness about the harmful environmental impacts of corporate greenwashing in the tobacco industry and beyond.