Grant money funds program meant to reduce cigarette litter along Pennsylvania Turnpike

PITTSBURGH — Two state organizations are teaming up to reduce cigarette butt litter along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Through $20,000 in grant funds, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are launching the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.

The program begins by scanning or physically counting the number of cigarette butts and other tobacco-related products at service plazas along the Turnpike. Then, ash receptacles will be installed by the entrance of service plaza buildings.

Two other scans will be performed throughout the year to assess the effectiveness of the program by comparing the amount of cigarette butts and tobacco products found before the program began and after it was implemented.

Also as part of the program, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful will create messages about the consequences of tobacco product litter at each participating service plaza. Some of those consequences include contaminating soil and groundwater with chemicals and heavy metals and killing animals who mistake tobacco products for food.

According to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s 2019 Pennsylvania Litter Research Study, over 500 million pieces of litter were found on Pennsylvania’s roadways. Of the total estimated litter, 186.2 million, or 37.1% were cigarette butts.

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