煙草在線據時代華納有線報道編譯　　據保持美國的美麗組織說，卷煙煙蒂是美國唯一最被亂扔棄的物品。但在我們看到垃圾的地方，經濟技術展示公司的首席執行官和創始人尼古拉斯·加比登（Nicholas Gabbidon）看到的卻是機遇。

　　尼古拉斯·加比登回想起來說：“當他們停止在室內吸煙的時候，就給室外造成了很大的垃圾問題。當我們看到這種情況的時候，我們就說，你知道人人將會需要一個煙灰缸了，因此，這是一個我們可以進入的完美業務。”

　　加比登的公司，即經濟技術展示公司給吸煙者往往會聚集的經營場所提供小的垃圾容器。這些盒子是免費的，但公司并不是慈善機構。他們通過出售他們認為可見程度很高的地方，比如酒吧和飯店外的廣告位來賺錢。

　　經濟技術展示公司的公關董事Larry Dell說：“你可能會看到一個月里，或者一個星期里，成百上千的人聚集在這里。這些人群基本上是比較年輕的人，年輕的城市專業人士或游客，如果你想要用自己的產品來會一會這些人，會一會那些沒有你們產品的人，那我們有完美的方式讓你與他們建立聯系。”

　　但那只是他們設想作為雙向收入流的一個方面。他們致力于研究一種用收集到的卷煙煙蒂制造的原型材料：一種可以用于制造象珠寶或吉他琴撥這樣的眾多物品的可回收塑料。它是一種海外幾家企業已經大力發展起來的理念。

　　加比登說：“我們發現，有一位紳士將它們過濾之后，又將它們重新紡到羊毛里做布料，還有另一家公司利用它們做通油管，用來涂覆內層。”

　　但這不只是一種公司用廢棄物創造出來的新型綠色材料。它們還創造新的綠色就業。

　　公司在紐約市里及周邊，有160個點，而且還計劃向全國擴展，他們說，他們會需要工人來安裝和維護這些盒子，出售廣告空間，更不用提還需要在回收煙蒂，給煙蒂賦予新用途的工廠里安排員工了。

　　加比登說：“回收利用可以創造很多很多就業。你知道卷煙只是一種物品，我們相信，還有很多被我們扔棄，而沒有意識到它可以被創造成別的東西，幫助在全國創造就業的垃圾。”

　　評論：從垃圾中尤其是一些司空見慣的事物看到機遇，需要的是非凡的眼光。經濟技術展示公司從室外的煙蒂中看到的機遇，的確讓人驚訝。該公司不僅把提供煙灰缸的地方看做是做廣告的好機會，而且還打算回收煙蒂制作有用的物品，還能為更多的人創造就業機會。在當前快速消費的時代，人們養成了“喜舊厭新”的習慣，熱衷“追趕潮流”，大量物品快速地被更新換代，地球的可用資源被過度消耗。如果我們都像加比登一樣，睜大了發現的眼睛，那么不但會減少資源的消耗，說不定還能尋找到一直被我們視而不見的“金礦”呢。

New York: Smoking Bans Create Green Opportunity

　　According to Keep America Beautiful, cigarette butts are the single most littered item in the country. But where we see trash, CEO and Founder of EcoTech Displays Nicholas Gabbidon saw opportunity.

　　"When they stopped smoking inside, they created a big littering problem outside," recalls Gabbidon. "When we saw this we said, you know everyone's gonna need an ash tray, so it was a perfect business for us to go into."

　　Gabbidon's company, EcoTech Displays, provides small receptacles to businesses where smokers tend to gather. The boxes are free, but the company isn't a charity. They make money by selling ad space in what they say are highly visible locations like outside of bars and restaurants.

　　"You may see hundreds, thousands of people here during the month, or during the week. And their crowd is basically younger people, young urban professionals and tourists so if you want to meet those people with your product and who doesn't, well we have the perfect way for you to come in contact with them," says EcoTech Displays Communications Director Larry Dell.

　　But that's only one aspect of what they envision as a two-way revenue stream. They are working on a prototype material made from the collected cigarette butts: A post-consumer plastic that can be used to make any number of things like jewelry or guitar picks. It's a concept that's already spawned several businesses overseas.

　　"We found one gentleman that was filtering them and re-spooling them into wool to make clothing, another company that was using them for oil pipes to coat the inside," notes Gabbidon.

　　But it's not just a new green material the company is creating out of the discarded waste. They're also creating new green jobs.

　　With 160 units in and around New York City and plans to expand nationwide, they say they'll need workers to install and maintain the boxes and sell the ad space, not to mention staff the plant where the collected butts will be recycled and repurposed.

　　"Recyclables can create many, many jobs. You know the cigarettes are just one thing, that I'm sure there's so much litter that we discard and don't even realize that it can be recreated into something else and help create jobs all over the country," says Gabbidon.