Superior Students Clean Park on Earth Day, Learn Dangers of Tobacco Products

SUPERIOR, Wis. — Students in Superior got their hands dirty with a clean-up and education effort on Monday. The Northwestern Wisconsin Lung Health Alliance led the Earth Day efforts.

The fourth and fifth-grade students from Lake Superior Elementary and Northwest Middle School got their buckets out and their eyes wide for trash at Wade Bowl Park. The main focus was on collecting as many cigarette butts as they could find.

Following the clean-up, the students got together to learn more about the dangers of commercial tobacco products.

“We know that some of the best ways in terms of prevention and some of the best ways for younger kids to learn about these types of behaviors and how to avoid them,” said Charmaine Swan of the American Lung Association. We know that if an older student is teaching those younger students, that peer-to-peer advocacy, is what we call it in the prevention world. That’s going to be much more impactful than someone like me standing up there and saying, ‘Don’t Smoke, Don’t Vape.’  It’s so much more impactful if the younger students are learning from older students and that’s what our FACT group at Northwest Middle School is all about.”

According to a study by ‘Keep America Beautiful’ cigarette butts remain the most commonly littered item. The 2021 report estimates that 9.7 billion cigarette butts are littered in the United States each year and four billion of these are in waterways.