Tips to Make Your Home Smoke Free

The deadly health risks of breathing secondhand tobacco smoke should send plans to make your home a smoke-free zone to the very top of your "To Do" list. Think about it. Each puff of secondhand cigarette smoke you breathe contains 4,000 chemicals. Forty of these chemicals are known to cause cancer.

Causes Illness

Your body takes a real beating from this chemical-filled air. It can cause children and adults alike to develop asthma, bronchitis, allergies and middle-ear infections. But it doesn't stop there. Pregnant women breathing secondhand smoke are more likely to deliver underweight babies. These babies are more likely to have health problems during their lives.

Breathing air with secondhand smoke on a daily basis increases your risk of getting lung cancer and heart disease.

With overwhelming medical evidence about the effects of secondhand smoke, you would think that all people would insist that their homes be smoke free. Unfortunately that's not the case, but the number of people choosing to make their homes smoke free is increasing. As of December 2005, 72% of Simcoe Muskoka households had made their homes 100% smoke free.

Tips for Going Smoke Free

There's no downside to going smoke free. It costs nothing, you need no special equipment and the benefits are immediate - better health for you and your family.

• Set a date when your home will officially become smoke free and stick to it. You may want to choose a birthday, start of a new month, the arrival of a new baby or the quitting date a smoker in the home has set.
• Keep all the areas in your home smoke free. Most homes today are well insulated and have heating and ventilation systems that move air easily - including any secondhand smoke - from one room to another.
• Select a place for people to smoke outside of the house. Set up a few chairs and an ashtray on the back porch or patio. Find a place that is out of the wind and keep an umbrella nearby for those rainy days.

If you live in an apartment building with no balcony, time your smoking to other outings, like going to check the mail or trips to the corner store.

If you live alone with a young child, never leave a child alone. Find a trusted neighbour to sit for you. Offer to do the same for them.

Smoke Free Decals Available

Place a sign at the entrances to your home letting visitors know it is a smoke-free home. The health unit has attractive decals available (shown below). Most people will respect the signs. It gets your message across without making either you or your guests uncomfortable. The vast majority of smokers are responsible and do not want their cigarette smoke to harm anybody else.

Making your home smoke free is also the perfect opportunity to make your car smoke free as well. See below for the decals available to indicate that your car is now smoke free too.

Don't be discouraged if there is an occasional slip up and someone smokes in your home or car. Start fresh and breathe easier!