Township resolution bans smoking at rec areas, playgrounds

There will be no more lighting up tobacco products at playgrounds, fields, parks and recreational areas in Moon.

Supervisors passed a resolution to participate in Allegheny County Young Lungs at Play, a program established to eliminate children’s exposure to secondhand smoke and provide children a safe smokefree environment.

The program is sponsored by the state Department of Health and the Allegheny County Health Department.

The township’s resolution establishes all recreational areas as tobaccofree zones. The ban also includes all forms of smokeless devices such as vaping and e-cigarettes.

No Smoking signs, which also will provide links to smoking education and smoking cessation web sites, will be posted before the start of the summer recreational season, around May 1.

The township parks and recreation board and Moon’s environmental advisory council partnered with Moon’s Green Team, a group dedicated to improving sustainability and promoting a healthy lifestyle within the township, to present the program to township supervisors.

“The program is a great fit for our green initiatives focus and it seemed like a perfect time to introduce it along with the new playground project,” said Christine Ree, township communications director.