How you can support smoke-free communities
Everyone has a role to play in promoting smoke-free communities – whether it's participating in organized community-wide activities or simply asserting your own right to breathe clean air.
Educate
Share what's on your mind. Share the knowledge you have gained about the health effects of secondhand smoke and the benefits of smoke-free places. Stating a forceful fact – “ Around 3,000 nonsmokers die every year in America from lung cancer caused by exposure to secondhand smoke, ” – sends a powerful message. Use resources, such as the recent Surgeon General's report (available in the Resource Center ), to back up your arguments. If you're confident about your message and support your claims with evidence, people will listen to you.
Advocate
Become an advocate. Take action in the right to breathe clean air campaign by participating at whatever level of involvement is comfortable for you. Spread the word about dangers of secondhand smoke and celebrate the new statewide smoke-free policy! Talk to your family, your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors, and your faith community. Involve your business or place of work by submitting information for your employee newsletter, company website, or worksite materials.
Click on this link to go to the Advocates' Corner..
Act
Use the power of consumer choice. Support smoke-free policies with your voice and your wallet. Patronize smoke-free establishments in your community and make sure they know you are there because they are smoke-free. When you are impacted by secondhand smoke in an establishment, speak up. Remind the person who is smoking that the area is smoke-free or ask the appropriate authorities, staff, or management of the location to address the problem. If you have to leave, or choose not to return because it is too smoky, make sure management knows business is being lost and why. Be tactful, but be firm – these policies exist to protect the health of you, your loved ones, and your community.
