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    FAQ– Frequently Asked Questions about the T-Free Zone campaign   

    1. What is a T-Free Zone?
    2. Why have a tobacco free zone?
    3. What size is a T-Free Zone? What are the Zone's boundaries?
    4. Do I have to register my T-Free Zone with Tobacco Free Tompkins, Tobacco Free Cortland, or any other agency?
    5. Does a T-Free Zone indicate an endorsement of all activities and viewpoints of Tobacco Free Tompkins and/or Tobacco Free Cortland?
    6. What about enforcement? How will the Zone be kept tobacco free?
    7. Are T-Free Zones only outdoors, or can they be indoors as well?
    8. Where else can you have a T-Free Zone?
    9. We already have a no smoking sign on our entrance.
    10. No one ever smokes around our building, so there is no reason to post a Zone.
    11. Can a T-Free Zone be more than a smoke free outdoor area?
    12. What about convenience stores and other retailers who sell tobacco products? Can a retailer post a T-Free sticker to keep the entrance smoke free and still sell tobacco and display tobacco advertising? Or does a T-Free sticker mean no ads and no sales?
    1. What is a T-Free Zone?

      2. In its simplest form, A T-Free — or Tobacco Free — Zone is a posted outdoor area that is intended to be free of smoking, tobacco smoke or tobacco use.

    2. Why have a tobacco free zone?

      3.   • People want to avoid exposure to tobacco smoke
              ~For information about the health risks of secondhand smoke, click here
        • People want to help youth keep tobacco use out of their lives
              ~For information about point-of-purchase tobacco advertising and youth, click here
        • People want to live a healthier life in a healthier environment

    3. What size is a T-Free Zone? What are the zone’s boundaries?

      4. There is no set size for a T-Free Zone. Individuals who post a T-Free Zone may specify the boundaries in writing, or they may use stickers to define the area. However, in most cases the boundaries will be unspecified and the Zone will be defined by the spirit of public cooperation and respect for others. 

      In situations where a specified distance is the best way to establish support and compliance, consider 20 feet as an appropriate radius for your T-Free Zone. Twenty feet is often used, so there is precedent for this distance.

    4. Do I have to register my T-Free Zone with Tobacco Free Tompkins, Tobacco Free Cortland, or any other agency?

      5. No. T-Free Zones are part of a voluntary program to increase public awareness of the burden of tobacco addiction, and is not regulated by Tobacco Free Tompkins, the Tompkins County Health Department or any other agency. An individual or worksite may establish a T-Free Zone to indicate a smoke free area, and/or to show support for changes that can help fight tobacco addiction in our community. For ideas about other changes suggested for T-Free Zones, click here.

    5. Does a T-Free Zone indicate an endorsement of all activities and viewpoints of Tobacco Free Tompkins and/or Tobacco Free Cortland?

      6. No. TFT is working to reduce the burden of tobacco use within Tompkins County by partnering with community members in whatever way best fits the goals and beliefs of that individual or organization. True partnering means finding a slice of common ground by which a common mission can be achieved. The T-Free Zone allows participants to determine how they best want to contribute.

      Tobacco Free Tompkins (TFT) is a grant-funded program established in part to implement the NYS Tobacco Control Program’s (NYTCP) draft strategic plan in Tompkins County. The NYTCP goals and objectives link sectors and stakeholders to achieve the NYTCP mission of relieving the burden of tobacco use within the state.

    6. What about enforcement? How will the Zone be kept tobacco free?

      7. In the vast majority of cases, T-Free Zones will be respected and enforcement will be unnecessary. The intent is that T-Free Zones will be “self-policing.” That is, most individuals will honor the public’s expectation of no smoking and no display of tobacco products, tobacco marketing or tobacco use within a reasonable area around a posted sticker.

    7. Are T-Free Zones only outdoors, or can they be indoors as well?

      8. T-Free Zones can be indoors, especially in the case of tobacco retailers who use the designation as a commitment to remove all point-of-sale advertising for tobacco products. However, since NYS public health law already prohibits smoking in all indoor workplaces and public areas, the emphasis is put on designating outdoor areas as tobacco free. For more information about New York’s Clean Indoor Air Act, click here.

    8. Where else besides entryways can you have a T-Free Zone?

      9. Other ideas include:
        • picnic areas
        • outdoor seating areas
        • storefronts or shop windows
        • outdoor waiting areas or benches
        • viewing stands or bleachers

      T-Free Zone stickers can also be posted when an organization participates through a policy or pledge to refuse funding from the tobacco industry, has only magazines without tobacco ads in their waiting area, or other change made in support of the fight against tobacco addiction in Tompkins County. For more information, click here.

    9. We already have a no smoking sign on our entrance.

      10. Post a T-Free Zone sticker to show your support for a community wide effort to decrease the social and economic burden of tobacco use and fight tobacco addiction in Tompkins County. As tobacco use is less and less part our public landscape, it recedes as a model of behavior for our youth, and they are less likely to start smoking or using spit tobacco. Less smoking in public and fewer tobacco ads also makes it easier for those who want to quit to succeed.

    10. No one ever smokes around our building, so there is no reason to post a Zone.

      11. A T-Free Zone sticker can be more than a designated no smoking area. It can also show your support for a community wide effort to decrease the social and economic burden of tobacco use and fight tobacco addiction in Tompkins County. This effort benefits our youth, our families and our taxpayers.

    11. Can a T-Free Zone be more than no smoking or no ads?

      12. Some individuals, businesses or organizations may like to make additional changes in the way they do business in order to help fight tobacco addiction in Tompkins County and New York State. For more information, click here.

    12. What about convenience stores and other retailers who sell tobacco products? Can a retailer post a T-Free sticker to keep the entrance smoke free and still sell tobacco and display tobacco advertising? Or does a T-Free sticker mean no ads and no sales?

      13. Most worksites, including the tobacco retailer, will recognize the Tobacco Free Zone campaign to be primarily keeping entrances and other outdoor areas free of tobacco smoke.

      A retailer is free to post a sticker...even if he or she does sell tobacco and has a couple of tobacco ads in the shop window. It’s better to have the sticker there than not at all. If customers comment on the idea of a T-Free Zone sticker along with tobacco ads, the retailer may reconsider the pros and cons of keeping the ads on display.

      The objective of the T-Free Zone campaign is the visibility that encourages a community assessment of tobacco use as a social norm. The goal is to decrease the social burden...the cues to light up...the desirability of tobacco use. It’s the community taking stand against tobacco addiction.

     

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    T-Free: Tobacco Free Tompkins is funded by a grant to the Health Promotion Program at the Tompkins County Health Department