In researching solutions for recycling cigarette butts, nick learned about the power of mushrooms from a video posted by Radical Mycologist, Peter McCoy. The video showed how the oyster mushroom could be trained to use used cigarette filters as a growing substrate after being introduced to clean filters. nick’s imagination ran wild with the possibilities for what he called ButtShrooms, or mushrooms grown on cigarette butts. and started to explore what new products could be made with them. Obviously, they are not for eating considering they would still hold toxins from the tobacco product waste, but nick found companies making paper products with ButtShrooms and has a hypothesis that they could serve as an alternative source to vinyl, for record production. With this in mind he wrote his first Read-Along Record based on the fictional origin story of a ButtShroom named FunGus that involves a made up interaction between Jurassic 5 members Chali 2na and Cut Chemist.

To bring his new read-along record venture to life, which he hoped would inspire the masses to wake up to the issue and participate in recycling and ending the cigarette butt problem, he realized he would need a collection system. This prompted him to go back to school to complete his Business Management degree, with an Entrepreneurship concentration, at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. He also received a Certificate in Water Studies through MSU and the Denver Botanic Gardens. With his previous experience in subscription boxes, from the HoggitBox endeveor, he aimed to make it easy for individuals and business alike to participate in his ButtCollectors program. He designed kits for individuals with reusable metal tins for pocket ashtrays, and compostable ziplocks for collection and mailer bags for shipping with plans to use it all as growing substrate for the ButtShrooms. His plan to make new products was derailed when he learned from Dr. Thomas Novotny that the products would be hazardous to the producer and the end-user. Fortunately, nick saw something about a bio-fueled rocket being launched into space and sent him down the rabbit hole to find a way to make bio-fuel out of ButtShrooms. The science was there, but an anaerobic digester was an expensive investment that he would have to raise. He thought he could do this by getting individuals to participate in a paid collection program and to inspire participation he intended to actually send butts to space, people’s butts, by partnering with a space tourism provider like the Space Perspective.

nick set out to launch his collection program for cigarette butts, as he continued to search for the best solution for managing the collected waste. He planned to manage his plant as a hazardous waste collection facility, following the guidance provided by the State of Colorado, until they told him the waste would always be exempted by the Household Hazardous Waste Exemption. He wanted to make an impact on the industry, not just make a profit off of dealing with the waste while potentially exposing himself and his team to harmful toxins, so the plans were butted out.

As one door closes another opens… nick learned about a lawsuit filed by the City of Baltimore against the tobacco industry, through the response of the industry itself. They argued that the city was trying to circumvent the necessary federal regulations and said they should file a citizen petition with the Food & Drug Administration. This was the first nick had heard of this opportunity and he began to look into what it would entail. Through his research he found that the citizen petition would require a rule to not be followed by the industry or the FDA and brought him to the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. There is a Special Rule for Cigarettes that says they can’t have any characterizing flavors other than tobacco or menthol and menthol was supposed to be considered for the ban by the agency as well. Through his experience over six years, he had learned about the flavor provided by the cellulose acetate filter and how it made the cigarette easier to consume which was enough to get him started on writing what would become a 78 page document, with 521 citations, signed by himself, the Inland Ocean Coalition and the Colorado Black Health Collaborative. You can find it following the button below and support it by submitting a comment. Unfortunately, the FDA responded by saying they need more time to consider the petition as it is not currently a priority for them.