TOPEKA, Kansas - The board of directors of Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County is thrilled with the community support of its Topeka Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.

Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County launched its program on July 9th when the first ash receptacle was installed in front of the Cumulus broadcast station. Local business and community leadership have focused attention on this growing litter problem with support from the City of Topeka, Shawnee County, the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Topeka, Inc. Today, a follow-up scan was completed, and after this program was put in place, we showed a 62% decrease in cigarette litter.

“Part of research we did at the beginning of the program was to assess the current level of cigarette litter,” said Bill Riphahn who serves as chair of the Cigarette Litter Prevention Team and is the Director of Planning and Development for the City Parks and Recreation Department. “Initially, I was shocked to find so much of it around entrances to buildings and right next to outdoor seating areas. There were very few ash receptacles to help adults who are smoking to properly dispose of their cigarettes.”

Cigarette butts, like all other litter, are a problem that we must deal with as a community, and the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program deserves the strong support of all our citizens.”

Since 1977, Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County is the local affiliate for national Keep America Beautiful. Their mission is to encourage individuals to take the responsibility for the environment, creating a safer, cleaner, more beautiful community.

This program is sponsored by Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County, The City of Topeka, Shawnee County, Downtown Topeka, Inc. and Philip Morris.

For more information, please contact Philicia at 235-0845 or e-mail kabtopsh@sbcglobal.net.