Happy Earth Day from FACT!

FACT, Wisconsin's youth-led Fighting Against Corporate Tobacco movement, is pitching in this Earth Day by cleaning up Big Tobacco's mess in Madison.

After picking up 5,000 cigarette butts in less than an hour, they're now spreading their message about Big Tobacco in front of the state capitol building. We swung by to check out the action - here are some highlights from the info they're handing out:

• cigarette butts account for millions of pounds of waste
• toxic chemicals in cigarette butts leak into our precious aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of our water and many aquatic life forms
• cigarette butts are not biodegradable and take up to 10 years to degrade
  

7,056 and counting!

Last week we asked you to sign the petition for a smoke-free Wisconsin to help us reach our goal of 1,000 signatures in 48 hours. You delivered - above and beyond what we asked!

Thanks in part to YOU, our blog readers, we're at 7,056 new petition signatures and counting! If you haven't already forwarded the petition to your family and friends, help us continue to demonstrate the strong support for a smoke-free Wisconsin by Facebooking, Tweeting, MySpacing, blogging, etc. the petition URL: www.holdingourbreathwi.com/sign-the-petition

Thank you for contributing to our success!

1,000 signatures in 48 hours

Help us get 1,000 smoke-free petition signatures in 48 hours! Sign here: www.holdingourbreathwi.com/sign-the-petition

WI smoke-free workplaces provision to remain in budget

Great news out of the state's biennial budget process: Wisconsin's smoke-free workplaces provision was not placed in a list of "policy" items removed from the biennial budget. Another hurdle cleared on the path to employees state-wide breathing easier.

What does this mean?

It means that the 16-member Joint Finance Committee will debate and vote on the smoke-free workplaces provision over the next several weeks. SmokeFree Wisconsin will continue to provide updates on the progress of this provision. If approved by the committee, the budget (and the smoke-free provision) will come before the legislature for a final vote. SmokeFree hopes to see this happen by mid-June.

The Policy List (items to be removed from the proposed budget) was provided by members of the legislature's JFC last Tuesday.

76% voter approval of 3 Wisconsin smoke-free policies

If you live in Appleton, Eau Claire, or Marshfield, you probably already know how happy people are with their smoke-free workplace, restaurant, and bar ordinances.

Three recent polls confirm that Wisconsinites love smoke-free air (76% on average!), and suggest that when Wisconsin goes smoke-free, the law will enjoy popularity in all corners of the state!

Click here to read the poll summary (.pdf).

What's your reason for wanting a smoke-free Wisconsin? Head on over to our smoke-free campaign website and let us know! www.holdingourbreathwi.com.