Featured Change Agent: Mike Davis is Recycling Pollution into Solutions

Each week, EarthFirst.com will be featuring a new ‘Change Agent’ from Changents.com, a social media site that connects people who are doing good in the world with a support system of advocates, donors, publicity generators and fans.

This week we’re putting the spotlight on Mike Davis, a change agent who’s fighting to turn millions of chemical-filled discarded cigarette butts into cigarette collection bins.  That’s right, he’s pushing the ‘Responsible Smokers Act’, which seeks to educate the public about the environmental and health impacts of the improper disposal of cigarette butts, which contain carcinogens.

The rationale behind Mike’s idea is simple: smokers make their own choice to expose themselves to the harmful substances in cigarettes.  But when they litter the streets, waterways, parks and other public spaces with the remnants of those cigarettes, they’re infringing on non-smokers’ rights not to be contact with those substances.  There hasn’t been a lot of research into whether improperly discarded cigarette butts might be contaminating our water and soil.  As Mike points out, cigarette filters were created to trap and contain many of the harmful ingredients in cigarettes – so, how do we know those toxins aren’t getting to the rest of us through other means?

Mike Davis’ solution is not only to make the public more aware of this problem, but to actually recycle used cigarette filters, which are made of cellulose acetate, into cigarette collection bins. He’s currently working with the patent holder of cigarette butt recycling and hopes to have a program in place soon.

Mike is currently seeking someone with a degree in business and knowledge about startups and running non-profit organizations to help him develop his business model.  He’s also seeking a 501 ©(3) fiscal sponsorship so he can begin accepting donations, a chemist to help him in the process of recycling the cigarette filters and a web designer willing to donate their time and skills to help him build a website for the Responsible Smokers Act.

If you can provide any of these services or want to help Mike in another way, join Changents as a backer.  Respond to his action requests, volunteer, give Mike support or just help spread the word.  Joining Changents is easy and becoming a backer will allow you to help out other change agents seeking to make the world a better place as well.

Link [Changents]

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