Kent State University's Rho chapter of Eta Sigma Gamma, the national health education honorary, will advocate for a safer and healthier environment by reminding students who smoke cigarettes to properly dispose of their cigarette butts.
The health education honor students have created Betty Butt, a life-size cigarette butt. Betty Butt will hand out mini cigarette receptacles to students on campus from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday. These receptacles were made from used film canisters and sand.
The event will start at 5 p.m. at White Hall, on East Main Street at Terrace Drive, continue at 5:45 at the Business Administration Building and move to Risman Plaza, between the Student Center and the Library, at 6:30.
According to Keep America Beautiful, cigarette butts are the most littered item in America and the world. Cigarette butts have been found in the stomachs of fish, whales, birds and other marine animals which leads to ingestion of hazardous chemicals.
Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate tow, not cotton, and can take decades to degrade. The toxic residue in cigarette filters also is damaging to the environment, and littered butts cause numerous fires every year.