Falls Church, VA. – The City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks recently decided to commit to providing 100% tobacco-free and vape-free parklands to provide a clean, healthy, and safe environment for all to enjoy.
The voluntary policy change was initiated by Y Street, a program of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY) and Virginia’s largest youth-led movement. VFHY and Y Street members strive to ensure Virginians have equitable access to clean and healthier outdoor environments through its campaign, Share The Air. Share The Air aims to create 100% tobacco-free parklands by encouraging local park and recreation departments and government officials to adopt voluntary, comprehensive tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free outdoor policies.
Falls Church engaged with Y Street High School members to explore how a partnership can enhance its parks and outdoor recreational areas to provide an even better outdoor experience, with student representatives from Falls Church Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks spearheading the city’s efforts and communication to city council to create tobacco-free and vapor-free outdoor environments. The City of Falls Church strives to create dedicated spaces that allow residents to be active, relax, and gather outdoors. For this reason, city council members expressed support, voting to commit to promoting tobacco-free parklands that encourage visitors to refrain from using tobacco and vape products and partner with Share The Air.
The impact of their commitment is expected to reduce tobacco and vape litter and residents’ exposure to secondhand smoke, as well as promote positive role modeling for youth who visit the city’s parks and outdoor recreational areas. The City of Falls Church joins the growing list of localities with tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free outdoor policies, becoming Share The Air’s 24th partner. Anand Colby, a student representative from the Falls Church Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks, shared, “We want our parks to come across as clean, healthy, and welcoming for all ages.”
As part of its partnership with Share The Air, the City of Falls Church will receive free tobacco-free signage to post as a reminder to park visitors.
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About the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY)
Established in 1999 by the Virginia General Assembly, the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth empowers Virginia’s youth to make healthy choices by reducing and preventing youth tobacco and nicotine use, substance use, and childhood obesity.
VFHY takes a comprehensive approach to prevention work that includes reaching about 50,000 children each year through classroom-based prevention programs in public schools, after-school programs, community centers, day cares, and prevention programs across the state. VFHY’s award-winning marketing campaigns deliver prevention messaging to more than 500,000 children annually. In addition, VFHY’s research program provides scientific insight on methods to effectively reduce tobacco use. Since 2002, VFHY has funded 40 large research projects at universities throughout Virginia. For more information, visit www.vfhy.org.
