Quantifying littered cigarette butts to measure effectiveness of smoking bans to building perimeters

The authors estimated the number of violations of a university policy that prohibited smoking within 25 ft of all campus buildings.

The project was conducted by 13 student researchers from the university and a member of the local public health department.

Students quantified cigarette butts that were littered in a 30-day period inside the prohibited smoking area of 7 campus buildings (large residential hall, small residential hall, administrative building, 2 academic buildings, campus cafeteria, and student union).

Investigators found a total of 7,861 cigarette butts (large residential hall: 1,198; small residential hall: 344; administrative building: 107; 2 academic buildings: 1,123 and 806; campus cafeteria: 2,651; and student union: 1,632).

Findings suggest that there is low compliance with the university's smoking policy. The described project may be repeated by students at other universities as a method to advocate for policy change.