β€œWe think it is important to keep the smoke-free policy visible” said Samantha Spiers, president of SHAC. β€œThis is a fun event that allows students to show their support for a smoke-free campus.”

The four students collecting the most cigarette trash will be awarded $50 gift cards to Barnes and Noble. To participate, students should check-in at the smoke-free tent on the Student Union patio between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. that day to pick up their supplies. Students return their collected trash to the tent where it is recorded by volume and then disposed of by Environmental Health and Safety. All participants will be given ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ smoke-free T-shirts, and the four winners will be notified the next day for prize pick up.

The smoke-free policy, which went into effect August 2012, bans smoking of any kind on campus. Since ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ went smoke-free, Valencia College, Florida State University and Seminole State College have also joined the more than 1,514 universities and colleges in the nation with smoke-free, or tobacco-free, policies in place. When ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ made the change, all out-door cigarette butt receptacles on campus were removed. Mary Schmidt-Owens, co-chair of the ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ Smoke-free Committee, said that keeping the receptacles would have sent conflicting messages, so it was decided to remove all receptacles on campus.

β€œWe have stayed in close contact with the staff members at Environmental Health and Safety, and they report that cigarette trash is down from what it was pre-policy implementation,” said Schmidt-Owens. β€œThe Health Center continues to offer smoking cessation support to all students, faculty and staff who are interested in quitting. New classes are starting all the time.”

For more information, call 407.823.2701 or visit: .

β€œWe think it is important to keep the smoke-free policy visible,” said Samantha Spiers, president of the Student Health Advisory Committee, which is hosting the event for the third time. β€œThis is a fun event that allows students to show their support for a smoke-free campus.”

The four students who collect the most cigarette trash will be awarded $50 gift cards to Barnes & Noble.

To participate, students should check-in at the smoke-free tent on the Student Union patio between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to pick up their supplies. Students return their collected trash to the tent so it can be measured for volume and then disposed of by Environmental Health and Safety. All participants will be given ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ smoke-free T-shirts, and the four winners will be notified the next day for prize pickup.

The ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ smoke-free policy went into effect in 2012. Since ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ went smoke-free, Valencia College, Florida State University and Seminole State College have also joined the more than 1,500 universities and colleges in the nation with smoke-free or tobacco-free, policies in place. When ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ made the change, all outdoor cigarette-butt receptacles on campus were removed. Mary Schmidt-Owens, assistant director of ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄β€™s Medical and Health Administration, said that keeping the receptacles would have sent conflicting messages, so it was decided to remove all receptacles on campus.

Schmidt-Owens, co-chair of the ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ smoke-free committee, said the campus Environmental Health and Safety staff reports that cigarette trash is down from before the policy went into effect. She said the health center continues to offer smoking-cessation support to all students, faculty and staff who are interested in quitting. To register, contact the center at 407-823-2701 or www.hs.ucf.edu.

β€œLast year, with the policy being so new, it made perfect sense to host the event while everyone was still adjusting to the smoke-free campus,” said David DeWitt, president of SHAC. β€œBut we wanted to do it again this year because we feel it still needs to be prominent and visible to everyone at ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ that this is a smoke-free campus.”

The four students collecting the most cigarette trash will be awarded $50 gift cards to Barnes & Noble. To participate, students should check in at the smoke-free tent on the Student Union patio after 10 a.m. to register and pick up supplies, and return the trash by 5 p.m. The trash will be recorded by volume and disposed of by Environmental Health and Safety. All participants will be given ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ smoke-free T-shirts, and the winners will be notified the next day for prize pickup.

The voluntary smoke-free initiative, which went into effect August 2012, was put in place to encourage a more-healthy lifestyle. Since ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ went smoke-free, Valencia College, Florida State University and Seminole State College also have joined the more than 1,182 universities and colleges in the nation with smoke-free or tobacco-free policies in place. When ΒιΆΉΤ­΄΄ made the change, all ash trays on campus were removed.

Volunteers last year collected about 32 gallon bags of cigarette trash. Β 

For more information, contact Megan Pabian, coordinator of university relations in Health Services, megan.pabian@ucf.edu.

Health Services is in the Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services.