Help Clean Up Cigarette Butts, Get Tote Bag

LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, is seeking help from faculty and staff to assist with a cigarette pickup as part of efforts to mark Duke Medicine’s ninth anniversary of being a tobacco-free workplace. 

From 8 to 9 a.m. on July 10, LIVE FOR LIFE staff, along with volunteers, will pick up cigarette butts at the Duke Medical Center campus to be used for an educational display at the Duke Farmers Market. LIVE FOR LIFE members will also share handouts highlighting Duke’s tobacco cessation resources.

All faculty and staff are invited to join and can participate for as long as they’d like, said Cassandra Callas, health education specialist with LIVE FOR LIFE. Gloves and pickup devices will be provided to volunteers, who will receive a free Farmers Market insulated tote bag. 

“This is a way to reiterate that we’ve come a long way with tobacco cessation on campus, but we still have a way to go,” Callas said. “Our hope is to beautify Duke’s campus and also make it known that there are many resources to help employees quit.” 

All collected butts will be on display later that day in a glass jar at the July 10 Duke Farmers Market, where visitors can guess the number of butts in order to win a prize. Additional information about cessation resources and education will also be available.

Faculty and staff interested in volunteering for the pickup effort can email Callas at cassandra.callas@dm.duke.edu or call (919) 681-0547. Callas will assign meeting spots outside Duke Hospital or Duke Clinic for the morning of July 10.