Students Working Against Tobacco from Okaloosa County and 17 other counties in Northwest Florida, in partnership with Florida Department of Health Tobacco Prevention Programs, will participate in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup on Saturday.
Local SWAT members will participate in Coastal Cleanup from 8-10 a.m. at Beasley Park on Okaloosa Island.
Other Okaloosa youth attending the annual Regional SWAT Meeting at the Florida Department of Health in Bay County will join fellow attendees to pick up trash and cigarette butts at Carl Gray Park in Bay County. At the regional meeting, the youth network will complete training and elect the region’s 2014-2015 Youth Advocacy Board members.
“The beach clean-up ties into the SWAT mission because we are working to show how tobacco products are not as glamorous as the tobacco companies try and portray them. There is nothing glamorous about litter from tobacco products on our beaches,” said Ashley Parker, a senior at Bay High School and SWAT member in Bay County.
SWAT, founded in 1998, is Florida’s statewide youth organization working to mobilize, educate and equip a student-led revolt against big tobacco companies. Big Tobacco spends millions in Florida to recruit new users and keep their current ones.
SWAT’s mission empowers the teens to de-normalize tobacco and put a spotlight on the tobacco industry’s role in the tobacco epidemic. Through grassroots-style activities, SWAT strives to make tobacco less desirable, less acceptable, and less accessible.
This regional SWAT project also supports the State Surgeon General’s Healthiest Weight Florida and Florida Health Cleans Up! initiatives. The Florida Department of Health recognizes the importance of keeping the state litter free. In response to the Department of Transportation’s new litter prevention educational campaign, the Department of Health formed clean-up teams around the state. The goal is to encourage physical activity and walking, while emphasizing how small choices affect residents' health and environment.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa students assist with Coastal Cleanup