Momentum Builds for Smoke-Free Housing
1,600 smoke-free apartments listed in statewide directory
Amy Olfene, Project Coordinator for the Smoke-Free Housing Coalition announced today that 1,631 housing units had been registered on the Coalition’s website and the Coalition’s website had received over 41,000 hits in August alone.“More and more landlords are seeing the value of smoke-free apartment buildings. Over the past three years, tenant surveys across Maine have shown that a vast majority of tenants prefer to live in buildings free from the dangers of secondhand smoke and Maine’s landlords are responding to the demand,” stated Ms. Olfene
The Smoke-Free Housing Coalition, funded in part by Maine’s share of the national tobacco settlement, the Fund for a Healthy Maine, was created in response to the many requests for information that The Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine and local Healthy Maine Partnerships had been receiving from landlords and tenants regarding smoke-free housing policies.
The Coalition created an informational website, www.smokefreeforme.org, which includes a place for landlords to register their smoke-free rentals, and an easy search mechanism for tenants. A media campaign advertising the registry on the radio, websites, posters, mailings, and through e-mail began on August 13th and runs through October.
“We are very excited to reach this milestone and we hope that this announcement will draw even more landlords and renters to our site. The site is very easy to use and there is no charge to list or search. We also welcome phone calls from landlords or tenants who don’t have access to the internet.” She added: “According to recent surveys, 78% of Maine renters want to live in smoke-free housing, while only 37% of private landlords have buildings with smoke-free policies. The demand is there—and the smoke-free registry is a great way to meet it.”
Enfield landlord, Susan Babineau added, “I recently registered our 16-unit elderly housing on the Smoke-Free Housing registry. I was surprised to get a call so quickly from a potential tenant who found us on the site. What a great tool for tenants and landlords!”
“Maine has made great strides in reducing exposure to second-hand smoke in public and work places, but many people, including children, are still involuntarily exposed to second-hand smoke in their homes,” added Tina Pettingill, Chair of the Coalition. “The Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine was created to assist landlords and tenants get the information they need. Initial surveys found that 40% of landlords did not know that smoke-free policies were legal and justified and we wanted to help clear up that misconception.”
Ms. Olfene added: “The Coalition provides both tenants and landlords with technical assistance, free educational materials and signage. We also held training sessions this summer for landlords who wanted to learn how to make their units smoke-free. The Coalition and its partners work to ensure that the people of Maine have the resources necessary to live free from secondhand smoke exposure in the place they spend 70% of their time—the home.”
Here in Franklin County most of the rental units are for Collage age students and are tobacco free. Insurance is higher for landlords that allow smoking. As a result many landlords in the area that rent to students have a tobacco free policy that prohibits the use of tobacco products within the units or buildings.
Background information:
The Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine is comprised of over 50 public health advocates, tenants, landlords, property managers and environmental health professionals. Their mission, through education, advocacy, and policy change, is to reduce the number of multi-unit residents who are involuntarily exposed to secondhand smoke. They have been working with housing authorities, private landlords, developments, and tenants since 2004. To learn more, please visit www.smokefreeforme.org.The Coalition held three successful landlord trainings this summer in Presque Isle, Auburn and South Portland, Topsham, Waterville, and Bangor. To learn more about these sessions, please visit www.smokefreeforme.org/training.
The Coalition’s radio ads can be heard on WBLM, WPOR, WHXQ, WCYY, WBZN, WKIT, WQCB, WMME, WTOS, and WEBB through the months of August, September, and October 2007. Web banners can be seen on MaineToday.com, BangorNews.com, TimesRecord.com, SunJournal.com, and Facebook.com.
Secondhand Smoke Information:
Every day in Maine one non-smoker dies from exposure to secondhand smoke.Secondhand smoke causes or worsens respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis, especially in infants, children and older persons. Secondhand smoke is a cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and middle ear infections in children.
Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds -- more than 50 of which are substances known to cause cancer in humans or animals. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Secondhand smoke cannot be controlled by ventilation or air cleaning. The only solution to this problem is to make buildings smoke-free. ASRAE, (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers) latest position document on secondhand smoke states: "Currently, the only way to effectively eliminate health risk associated with indoor exposure is to ban smoking activity."
Smoke-Free Housing Information:
Smoke-free apartments are less expensive to maintain. When a smoking tenant moves out, costly cleaning and repairs (totaling $500-$1600) are necessary to prepare the unit for the next tenant. Also, fire insurance can be less expensive for non-smoking units.Smoke-free apartments are safer. Smoking materials are the leading case of home and total fire deaths in the United States. Smokers put themselves and their neighbors at risk. In Maine, at least 30% of fatal fires are related to tobacco products.
