Vaping vs. Smoking: Which Is Better for the Environment?
Cigarette butts on the ground are standard, even when a garbage can is nearby. Although aware of the planet’s dire status, many smokers continue to dispose of their used cigarettes by throwing them out of car windows. What’s worse–the decomposition of these butts may take ten years!
While vaping was invented as a healthier alternative to cigarettes, we are still to discover its impact on our environment. Vape products may pose less danger to our environment, as most are reusable. However, there are still many components we cannot fully recycle, which end up as trash.
In this article, we’ll let you in on the unique effects of smoking and vaping on our environment.
Cigarette Buds
The prevalence of cigarette butts is alarming, and it seems to worsen. That’s because old butts take a long time to decompose–often a decade or more. So, many smokers prefer to discover vape products online to remedy the situation as much as possible.
Yes–as shocking as it is–it’s true that if you were to throw a cigarette butt out of your vehicle window on your 20th birthday and continued living for another decade, it’d likely still be there when you reached 30.
The average smoker throws hundreds of cigarette butts yearly, which multiplies the problem tremendously. The positive side of the increase in vaping is that fewer people are smoking, which means fewer cigarette butts on the ground.
Vaping Devices
Vaping devices are a promising tool for greatly easing this hazardous load.
E-juice contains nicotine (in most instances) and the flavor is vaporized using these devices, which use very little power. The user then inhales the vapor, simulating the sensation of smoking without the mess, odor, ash, tar, and other negative aspects of traditional tobacco cigarettes.
Unlike traditional cigarettes, you can always reuse an electronic cigarette–all you have to do is refill the device with an e-juice between sessions.
Vaping is far more sustainable than smoking traditional cigarettes, which generate massive trash and consume many essential resources. In most cases, e-cigs are powered by rechargeable batteries that you can use many times before purchasing a replacement.
The Problem With Deforestation
One of the most alarming problems of our generation is deforestation. Large amounts of forests are being cut down as we speak to satisfy our consumer needs. Smoking and vaping have different impacts on our forests.
Did you know that around fifteen cigarette packets equal one tree? In other words, even a light smoker is solely responsible for the cut down of six trees yearly. Also, trees provide oxygen, while smokers generate vast quantities of carbon dioxide and methane; this compounds an already problematic issue.
If you’re a smoker and decide to transition to vaping–you’ll be doing a massive favor for society.
Fighting Global Warming via Vaping
This may sound like a bold statement, but the reality is that vaping does help in the reduction of hazardous smoke emissions.
When on the topic of global warming, carbon dioxide (CO2) is by far the biggest culprit. Cigarette smoke contains a lot of carbon monoxide that smokers exhale. Considering that making cigarettes releases a great deal of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the gravity of the matter becomes clear.
Changing from smoking cigarettes to vaping may assist the environment by reducing the carbon footprint in the atmosphere.
Smoking is hazardous for the environment because it releases many harmful toxins into the air. There are more than 5,000 in a single cigarette–sometimes even 7,000!
When you light up, you also release these toxins into the air, which is detrimental to the planet. However, unlike traditional smoking, vaping does not unleash a flood of toxic chemicals into the air.
The Problem With Vape Waste
Vaping doesn’t come with no effect on the environment. There are a lot of risks that the vaping device industry may impose on our planet.
Waste products from electronic vaping devices include used batteries, used pods or cartridges, used containers and packaging for e-liquid, and used vape devices. Regarding environmental impact, e-cigarette trash ranks at the top because it combines three types of waste: plastic, toxic, and electronic (e-waste).
Every one of them poses a specific set of risks to nature. The use of electronic cigarettes results in an increase in trash, including plastic.
The device’s housing and pod parts are manufactured from plastic. Some plastic products may take hundreds of years to dissolve, making plastic pollution a severe environmental hazard.
However, there are some solutions to this.
You can dispose of batteries and electronics in special containers at any facility that accepts regular home waste. Plus, this waste is fully recyclable.
Be sure to separate the batteries from the rest of the recycling if possible. If you have to get rid of your vaping equipment, throw it away alongside your old electronics.
Vaping and Microplastics
Microplastics are produced by breaking down plastic vape waste like pods, cartridges, and other plastic vape trash. They are neither harmless nor biodegradable, like a banana peel or eggshell.
Instead, they may find their way into our seas due to weather-related or other forms of water runoff. Both marine life and human drinking water have been observed and proven to contain microplastics.
Nevertheless, proper disposal of vaping devices will significantly decrease the probability of these microplastics ending up in our oceans, food, and dishes. Vape manufacturers usually give a detailed description of how you can safely dispose of your vaping device once you are through with it.
Conclusion
Every one of us has experienced the blight cigarettes bring to our streets, sidewalks, and parking lots. This is a major problem adding to littering and uncleanliness in our surroundings.
Vaping might be a bit more environmentally friendly than smoking–but only if we properly recycle vaping product waste.
The good news is that many people are starting to become conscious about their personal health and environment. We hope that this trend will continue and that by employing smart recycling, we will reduce both our carbon and waste impact on our precious planet.
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