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| Smoke-free Restaurant Award presented to Stickyz Fingers by Katherine Donald from The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas, a MISRGO sub-grantee. |
October 14, 2011, about twenty tobacco prevention advocates in Little Rock participated in Dine Out for Lunch Day at Stickyz Fingers to express appreciation for the restaurant’s recent adoption of a smoke-free workplace policy to protect the health of its workers and patrons.
Secondhand smoke exposure is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. killing more than 53,000 non-smokers each year. In Arkansas, an estimated 510 non-smokers die, annually, from breathing secondhand smoke. The 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that establishing smoke-free environments is the only proven way to prevent exposure.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that smoke-free restaurants can expect to save about $190 per 1000 square feet each year in lower cleaning and maintenance costs. [Michigan Department of Community Health, (2000)]. The EPA also estimates a saving of $4 billion to $8 billion per year in building operations and maintenance costs if comprehensive smoke-free indoor air policies are adopted nationwide. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Clean Indoor Air Regulation Fact-sheet. “National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. April 2001.)
Secondhand smoke exposure is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. killing more than 53,000 non-smokers each year. In Arkansas, an estimated 510 non-smokers die, annually, from breathing secondhand smoke. The 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that establishing smoke-free environments is the only proven way to prevent exposure.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that smoke-free restaurants can expect to save about $190 per 1000 square feet each year in lower cleaning and maintenance costs. [Michigan Department of Community Health, (2000)]. The EPA also estimates a saving of $4 billion to $8 billion per year in building operations and maintenance costs if comprehensive smoke-free indoor air policies are adopted nationwide. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Clean Indoor Air Regulation Fact-sheet. “National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. April 2001.)
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| Advocates celebrate new smoke-free policy |
Join with the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas as it gives kudos to Stickyz Fingers for going smoke-free, and as it asks other restaurants and bars that currently allow smoking, to adopt a smoke-free workplace policy to protect the health of their workers. For more information, contact the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas at (501) 687-0345.
