Marquette receives grant to help fund Cigarette Litter Prevention Program

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Downtown Development Authority was recently awarded a $2,5000 grant from Keep America Beautiful as part of its Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.

Marquette is one of 42 communities nationwide to receive the grant this year. The DDA is partnering with the Superior Watershed Partnership and the Community Foundation of Marquette County to implement the program. The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program aims to educate smokers on proper disposal of cigarette butts and help reduce the amount of cigarette butt litter.

“When a smoker disposes of a cigarette butt onto the sidewalk or into the roadway, eventually, those butts end up on the beaches. The purpose of this is to remind them that cigarette butts are litter,” said Mona Lang, the executive director of the DDA.

The funds will allow the partnering organizations to purchase cigarette urns to place throughout downtown Marquette, as well as distribute vehicle and portable pocket ash trays. The portable ash trays will be distributed at several of the large community events this summer.