BRATTLEBORO — Keep a lookout for blue and orange Smoke-Free Zone signs in downtown Brattleboro.
Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition (BAPC) and the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Senior Youth Group have teamed up to create awareness about the danger of secondhand smoke in the downtown Brattleboro area.
During Gallery Walk on Nov. 1, members of the youth group provided downtown Brattleboro businesses with Smoke-Free Zone window decals.
More than 20 downtown Brattleboro businesses have agreed to support the project by allowing the teens to create Smoke-Free Zone stencils, using non-toxic spray chalk, on the sidewalk in front of their business.
Downtown Brattleboro businesses supporting the project include Amy's Bakery, Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro, Brattleboro Bike Shop, Brooks Memorial Library, Burrows Specialized Sports, Candle in the Night, Everyone's Books, Experienced Goods, Gallery in the Woods, Hotel Pharmacy, In the Moment Records, Insight Photography, Latchis Hotel and Theatre, Life's Little Luxuries, Mystery on Main, Peter Havens, Renaissance Fine Jewelry, The River Garden, Silver Moon Adornments, Taylor for Flowers, Vermont Artisans Gallery, and Windham Flowers.
The event was inspired by the BAPC's Tobacco Workgroup, which meets regularly to discuss tobacco-related concerns in the Windham southeast community.
The group, using data collected from a sample survey of 186 Windham County residents, where 70 percent of people surveyed showed support to increase smoke-free public sidewalks, aims to increase the amount of smoke-free areas downtown.
Anyone interested in helping reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in the Windham southeast region is invited to call BAPC at 802-257-2175.