The National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) is one of the largest, long-standing gatherings for top United States tobacco control professionals. The conference attracts a diverse group of public health professionals, researchers, and anyone interested in examining the latest evidence on best practices in tobacco control and how to apply current research findings to tobacco control policy, advocacy, and programs.

Did you know that in the United States, we waste about 108 billion pounds of food every year? That means that about 30-40 percent of the U.S. food supply ends up in the trash can where it is then sent to the landfill. While more food scraps are being collected for compost due to new California state mandates, food waste still accounts for the single largest material found in landfills, making up about 18% of municipal solid waste.

On Saturday, April 30, I joined 300 regional delegates, as we embarked on the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s 50th annual Capital to Capital (C2C) advocacy trip to Washington DC. Our delegation included, elected officials, business leaders, nonprofit and community organizations, and advocates, that united around advocacy for the Sacramento Region.

This year, BREATHE is proud to announce we are one of the organizations sponsoring May is Bike Month! Our friends and partners, Sacramento Area Bicycling Advocates (SABA), are hosting May is Bike Month this year.

The simple act of getting a kid on a bike can have an enormous, positive impact on your child’s life. Years into adulthood, it’s easy to forget about the surge in personal growth, as well as the sense of freedom & adventure that came when you reached that happy milestone.

At BREATHE, cycling has been an important part of our culture for over three decades. Starting in the mid-80’s, we brought hundreds of people together every year for the Emigrant Trails Bike Trek, where we celebrated the joys of a healthy and adventurous lifestyle, while raising funds for our organization’s most important programs.

Since 2002, Breathe’s Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! (TUTD) project has collaborated with the Truth Initiative and partners from the University of Chicago, NORC and predecessors from University of California, San Francisco. Breathe staff and youth partners collect data on the depiction of tobacco products in top grossing movies as well as the most popular television and streaming shows on platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu.

Simply look around. Tobacco litter is everywhere: from local grocery store parking lots to San Francisco Beaches to the American River Parkway here in Sacramento. In fact, cigarette butts are the most common toxic waste found in cleanups and can make up 37 percent of the total waste in California.

Breathe California Sacramento Region (BCSR) and the California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN) are proud to announce that Milton Nguyen has been presented with the 2021 Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year Award by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids! The Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year Award goes to the top senior applicant who has demonstrated a significant commitment to commercial tobacco prevention in their state and community.

The American Lung Association recently released their 19th annual State of Tobacco Control 2021 Grades. This is an annual comprehensive report that assigns grades based on strategic methodology to counties, states, and the nation regarding tobacco control policies. Some of the policy areas considered are tobacco retail licensing, flavored tobacco bans, smoke-free multi-unit housing, smoke-free outdoor areas, and smoke-free outdoor worksites.

On March 15th and 17th, ten Breathe Youth Advisory Board and Rio Americano Public Health Club students participated in the 2021 Youth Quest event. This is an annual youth event organized by the California Youth Advocacy Network and this year’s theme was “Times Change. Issues Remain. Tobacco Gains.”

For Breathe California Sacramento Region (BREATHE), like many organizations and people, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Having never experienced a shutdown of this nature, we were not sure what to do last March 14, so we all went home and got to work, collaboratively and virtually, figuring out how we continue engaging the greater Sacramento region in the important air quality and lung health work that we do.

As the fiscal year came to a close on June 30th, so did the 5-year Sacramento Taking Action against Nicotine Dependence (STAND) project. Under this project, funded by the California Tobacco Control Program, Breathe successfully helped the Los Rios District Community Colleges adopt, implement and maintain their smoke-, tobacco-, and vape-free campus policy.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Breathe California has had to cancel plans for our 34th Annual Bike Trek, originally scheduled for this September in Amador County. At the end of May, we introduced the June Challenge to keep our fellow cyclists inspired to ride their bikes this summer. Now, we’re working diligently to bring our wonderful Trek community back together again in support of Breathe’s critical work for clean air and healthy lungs.

The Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has brought many hardships. At the time of writing, the current global death count is 469,587, while the current global cases count is 8,993,659 and rising (WHO). For the time being, our way of life has changed. Non-essential travel, socializing, appointments, and purchases have been placed on hold.

In the wake of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic that began in 2019, Breathe California Sacramento Region sought to share public health and air quality-related news and studies about the pandemic. We’ll be updating this blog on a regular basis with a selection of stories in which they offer comments and context.

Breathe California Sacramento Region (BCSR) joins our community in mourning the tragic and senseless deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless Black lives taken prematurely by racist violence and police brutality.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s Thousand Strong initiative is a city-wide approach to work experience development that begins with our local youth. Thousand Strong is a community effort to prepare Sacramento youth for success in careers by offering youth paid internships and the opportunity to learn valuable work skills in real work environments.

Welcome to our newest members of the Breathe Board of Directors! With the start of July 2020, we welcome four new members to our passionate Board of Directors: Samantha Hoshida, Mia Lopez, Dean O’Brien and Chris Flores. 

Join Breathe California in a delightful series of rides, in celebration of the Breathe Bike Trek and all the wonderful ways that cycling helps to keep you happy, healthy and sane! Yeah, we know that 2020 is a really weird year and it is hard to predict when we can even get together again. So we decided to do something about it.