Activities Ideas

Tobacco Stink Jars

Time: 6-8 minutes

Materials: 3 large 1-2 quart jars with tight lids (or 2 jars and a large zip-lock bag), 1 quart of molasses or dirty motor oil, labels for jars, a sweater (or scarf or piece of fabric), cigarette butts, and water.

Objective: To help participants experience some of the short and long -term effects of tobacco use.

Assembly:  

Tar Jar: Take one of your jars and fill it with a quart of moleasses or dirty motor oil, and screw the lid on tight. Label the jar to read: "One pack of cigarettes per day yields about one quart of tar per year".

Smelly Sweater: Put a sweater, scarf, or piece of fabric in a jar or in a large zip-lock bag. Have a smoker blow cigarette into the jar or bag and seal.

Butt Jar: Take one of your jars and fill it up with as many cigarette butts as you can get your hands on (you don't need to fill it entirely, but try to get at least a few ashtrays' worth of butts in there). Add some water (don't completely cover the butts), seal the jar, and let it ferment in the sun for a few days. Drain off the water, and you've got your smelly butt jar.  

Activity Instructions: Pass all three items around, and encourage your participants to sniff the Smelly Sweater and Butt Jar. Explain the significance of each item to your group. The Tar Jar represents the amount of tar (1 quart) that smoking one pack of cigarettes per day for a year will yield, and that a smoker is taking all that tar into his or her body. The Smelly Sweater represents how a smoker's clothes smell, and the Butt Jar represents the smell of a smoker (and their butts) as well. Ask the participants "Is this really the way you want to smell or the way you want your lungs to look?"