Innovation

As was mentioned before, according to their business model, the first step they have in the company is the collection of cigarette butts by volunteers who seek to make a change in the city. Later, they send them to Ecofilter, a strategic ally that is in charge of degrading and clean cigarette butts to convert them into cellulose pulp.

Likewise, with the help of Grupo Voltos and the second strategic ally, which is a screen printing and engraving studio, they create the notebooks and designs to finally be able to have a product made of recycled materials for sale. With this, reduce the impact that butts have in the environment, as they are too harmful and are known as the silent pollutant.

Paper sheets made from cellulose pulp

Inspiration

The original idea came from the founder Zaira, due to the concern of wanting to do something for the society in which we are living, as well as wanting to help people through something that will add and generate an impact on the environment, for which she opted for finding a way to recycle the silent pollutant. However, the beginning was somewhat difficult because a perfect formula had to be created to be able to produce the paste for the notebooks, since it was expected to do all this with a little water and glue, but as time went by, it was discovered that could be done better with shredded paper and together make the perfect blend of cellulose.

In regards to her main motivation, she wants to do something for the people around us, to "create a more empathetic and aware world about what is generated day by day" (Hernández, 2023). In the same way, it is wanting to leave a mark on future generations, since this project also includes awareness about the contamination that a single cigarette butt can generate and create consciousness and responsible consumers, as it is not at odds with the idea of ​​consumption, but how people dispose of it.

Overall impact

When Grupo Voltos unveiled the product, it generated a great impact, as many people from Tehuacán were surprised to see that cigarette butts could be reused to create notebooks, something that had never been seen before and that no one else had been interested in attacking a problem of this magnitude, which made more people want to join the project through volunteering in the collection of cigarette butts in the streets of the city or being responsible consumers and collecting them instead of throwing them away where they could be too harmful to the environment.

With everyone's help, GV has been able to collect about +6 gallons of cigarette butts, thus avoiding the contamination of 4,232,000 liters of fresh water as well as animals, land and water could have been harmed by this residue.

On the other hand, some of the short-term effects are cleaning the streets through the collection of cigarette butts and making tobacco users aware of responsibly disposing cigarette butts. In the long term, the contamination of water in the streets and seas was avoided by protecting terrestrial life from consequences of this residue, especially birds and plants, since they are the ones who use the butts to create their nests and in some cases, eat them, causing their young to be born with deformities.

This impact can be verified by observing the reduction of cigarette butts in the streets and the improvement of plant growth where there used to be many cigarette butts, such as in parks.

Business benefit

The project in question has generated a significant impact on the company, which has led to the recognition of the citizens of Tehuacán.

As a result, the company has captured the attention of the population, becoming known as a new organization present in the city that seeks to improve it and reduce its impact on the environment. In addition, responsible consumption has been promoted in all possible aspects.

Thanks to this, it has generated more jobs in charge of making the notebooks, since it is not a very simple task, since the cellulose must be cleaned and later produce paper and designs of the covers, ending with the assembly of the notebook.

Social and environmental benefit

This project has highlighted the importance of teamwork among members of society, and how we can make a significant impact by collaborating together.

In addition, the added value of offering consumers a product made entirely of recycled materials has been highlighted, which allows them to contribute to the environment by making a responsible consumption decision. It is gratifying to know that by doing so, we are working together to benefit ourselves and future generations, just as Zaira, the founder, envisions a better world.

Interview

Zaira Melina Hernández Cruz, Founder