Eliminate Tobacco Product Waste in Tribal Outdoor Recreational Areas

Campers Support Restricting Commercial Tobacco Use in the La Jolla Tribal Campground

SAN DIEGO, CA – September 4, 2025 – The Center for Tobacco and the Environment collaborated with the La Jolla Tobacco Reduction Program to investigate the acceptability and potential impacts of a policy that would restrict commercial tobacco use in campground. Results from tobacco product waste cleanups show tobacco product waste in several areas in the campground, with cigarette butts making up the majority of this waste. A survey of campers shows most would support a policy that bans or restricts commercial tobacco use, and that very few would stop camping if a policy were implemented. 

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Background

Tobacco product waste (TPW) is the discarded material from commercial tobacco consumption, mainly cigarette butts, but it also includes cigar butts, cigarillos, tobacco packaging, e-cigarette parts, nicotine pouches, and multi-use items. Commercial tobacco products are not to be confused with traditional tobacco, also known as sacred tobacco, which is tobacco used by Tribal communities for ceremonial purposes.

Tobacco product waste that is littered pollutes the environment. Cigarette butts, which make up a majority of tobacco product waste, break apart into microplastics and can release heavy metals, carcinogens, and nicotine into soil and water. One cigarette butt has the potential to contaminate approximately 1000 liters of water with toxic pollutants. 

Frequent cleanups and maintenance of cigarette butt receptacles are often required to manage tobacco product waste, which reaccumulates rapidly. This is often very costly for businesses and governments responsible for the cleanup.

Tobacco product waste in campgrounds could expose wildlife and visitors to toxic tobacco chemicals and create a costly and difficult litter problem for those maintaining the site.

Key Findings

Results from the tobacco product waste collection conducted in collaboration with the La Jolla Tribal Youth Program show that 248 items of tobacco product waste were found near the campsites, playground, restrooms, and RV park. 88% of the tobacco product waste collected was made up of cigarette butts.

In an online survey of 173 campers, 83% agreed that smoking of commercial tobacco products should be banned or restricted at the campground. In general, 75% of the campers surveyed support policies prohibiting the use of commercial tobacco products in areas they frequently visit to help prevent tobacco product waste from accumulating. Campers overall seemed open to the change, with less than 8% of campers saying they would use smokeless products if smoking and vaping were banned, and only 6% saying they would stop camping.

Campers appear to be concerned about the commercial tobacco product waste, with 83% agreeing that the waste contains dangerous chemicals and 78% agreeing they worry about the environmental impact. 62% reported that they tend to keep themselves, their children and/or pets away from places with a lot of tobacco product waste.

Overall, restricting the use of commercial tobacco products at the campground is supported by most campers and could protect both people and the local environment from toxic tobacco product waste.

This month we met with our new colleagues at the La Jolla Tobacco Reduction Program to review our progress thus far. We shared preliminary results of the camper survey, which was completed by more than 200 campers during the 2024 camping season. We also shared maps and counts of tobacco product waste based on our collections conducted in 2024. Our colleagues from the Tobacco Reduction Program plan to share these results with Tribal leadership. In the coming months we will work together to create user-friendly reports to share with Tribal members.

We have completed our camper survey and are beginning to analyze the results.

We have completed our first round of tobacco product waste collection before the camping season. We taught youth, Tribal members, and others about the harms of commercial tobacco and the differences of commercial and traditional tobacco use at events at the campground.