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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

An emerging area of research is the impact of tobacco product waste (TPW) on the environment. Waste product assessment is of great interest to public health professionals and communities, and methods to collect waste products can easily lend themselves to community participation. Indeed, waste product collection can mobilize communities, but a standard methodology for collecting and assessing waste does not exist. This study utilizes two existing protocols for TPW collections across residential environments to determine the operational usability of these methods for citizen scientists (i.e., ease, time, and process of data collection). Citizen scientists surveyed two residential areas in Central California using two debris survey protocols (A and B). After waste products were recorded, citizen scientists were interviewed on their views about and experience with both protocols. Both protocols had strengths and suggested areas of improvement. This area of investigation is well suited to the citizen scientist approach of data collection, particularly in areas with fewer available resources. Moreover, this work can be utilized to motivate tobacco control efforts by highlighting how community-based TPW collection methods can support tobacco prevention and promote effective policy enforcement, with the ultimate goal of protecting community and environmental health.

Details

Title
Citizen Science to Collect Tobacco Waste: Exploring the Usability of Two Protocols
Author
Temourian, Allison A 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Durazo, Arturo 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Jordan, Meggan M 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Díaz-Garayúa, José R 3 ; Beutel, Marc W 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Song, Anna V 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA; [email protected]; Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center, Health Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA; [email protected] 
 Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center, Health Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA; [email protected]; Public Health, School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA 
 College of the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA 95382, USA; [email protected] (M.M.J.); [email protected] (J.R.D.-G.) 
 Environmental Systems Graduate Group, School of Engineering, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA; [email protected] 
 Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center, Health Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA; [email protected]; Department of Psychological Sciences, School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA 
First page
53
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
24138851
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3181826090
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.