Brockovich I-Village

I am trying to start a nonprofit to cure the problem of cigarette pollution. While educating on the repercussion of the act of littering, this mission is to provide proper places for disposal. The goal is to make Public ashtrays that are designed to educate, but the key is to “shock and aw” the smokers by making this device from the cigarette butts itself. Of course there will be refining steps to remove all the bad chemicals. But through grants like the EPA's P2I2 Pollution Prevention and Education grant, they award funds that could be used to collect the litter.

All in a plan devised to stop the gradual poisoning of our environment. This plan is to educate smokers and non-smokers that littering the filtered end of a cigarette takes there educated choice of smoking a cancerous product and carelessly taking the rights of the people around, to not absorb all the Bioaccumulotoxins that the cellulose acetate filter in which its designed to store. These chemicals in cigarettes after they have chemically modified by the burning of the tobacco, in turn multiplies the output types of poisonous chemical.

All the filter does after improper discard, is leech into the grasses, storm drains, waterways, making them prone to wildlife and human interaction or ingestion. Already it is common for a local public utility to spend millions on the extraction of these filters from there treatment plants and the unclogging of the drainage systems. The environment is enduring priceless amounts of damages to just about every last known destination on this planet.

One's habit shouldn't be tolerated if it affects everyone consequence!

This nonprofit idea in theory would work like this:

Any place that sells tobacco products, allows smoking in there establishment should be required or encouraged to enroll in the Cigarette Collection Program. Sellers could offer the RSA's “Home Units”, a program that uses recycled paint cans to collect filters from home and send them to the RSA. Existing local recycling programs could allow of collection of sealed cans. Smoking establishments could instruct all employees to collect in large 5 gallon recycled paint can and offer pamphlets of the program at the bars. This could also ensure better protection from accidental fires in regular trash.(many restaurants a year burn down for this reason.)

Any Establishment that has traffic of smokers should apply RSA Bins near there entrances. These are self maintaining units, if enrolled in the program you will not have to collect, a service designed within the program to encourage adoption. Almost all commercial places could essentially use these PSR (Public Smoking Receptacles), and save financially for there site maintenance cost. With the point of entrance to establishments being the most common source for cigarette litter, it is essential for there to be proper places to comply to anti-littering laws.

Responsible Smokers and/or Environmentally Responsible Populous along with Local and Community Beautification Projects could adopt this model to there cleanup and disposal activities.

If we can collect the product(cigarette butts) we use to make the PSR we can perpetuate the effectiveness to the outcome. Our main goal is to eradicate existing cigarette pollution and educate to remedy the man made disaster in which irresponsible smoking has caused.

Mike Davis - R.S.A