Disposables and the environment - interesting comment at the supermarket

Giraut · Aug 3, 2014

I was waiting at the checkout line at the supermarket earlier this afternoon. There were two guys in front of me. One of them pointed at something near the counter, and said "Look, it's those electronic cigarettes." I took a peek, and indeed there were a few disposables for sale - I hadn't even noticed them before. The other guy replied with a snarky air on his face: "Yeah, as if cigarette butts all over the sidewalk wasn't enough. Now smokers'll fill up landfills with millions of dead batteries too."

I've never thought about that. I'm somewhat eco-minded myself, and disposables should have struck me as the most atrocious alternative to smoking as far as the environment is concerned. It's just that I've never though of them as vaping devices - just gimmicks promoted by tobacco companies that true vapers quickly grow out of.

But if disposables ever get good and cheap enough and take off, boy will we get flak from the greenies - and rightly so. I can see this being used as yet another argument against vaping some day

VapeAddict · Aug 4, 2014

I thought we all recycled our batteries.. Throwing away batteries is like pouring used motor oil in the dumpster...

Artisan Vaping · Aug 4, 2014

I've always thought any kind of disposible/non-refillable would be horrible for the environment. PVs with big batteries
and tanks that last forever are the best, IMHO. All you ever throw away is a little piece of Kanthal and some cotton.

jae · Aug 4, 2014

Disposable EVERYTHING is just an atrocity. We in the U.S. are so conditioned by living in a disposable culture.

UncleRJ · Aug 4, 2014

I have been recycling batteries for years now.

But this thread has made me think.

Lots of steel in RBAs that we are not able to repair for whatever reason so they can be recycled if we take the time.

Same for Glass or Plastic E-Liquid bottles.

What category do cartomizers fit in?

Giraut · Aug 4, 2014

Pre-built atomizer heads and cartos aren't much better I suppose: they're a lot of supporting hardware for not very many active elements (coil and wick) that actually get consumed. That's one of the reasons why rebuildables attract me: all you throw away is what gets used and nothing else. I like that. But at least cartos and atomizer heads don't contain heavy metals that seep into the ground, like batteries do.

It's only satisfying on a psychological level mind you: just to think the number of perfectly functional cellphones that get thrown away every year, or the amount of useless plastic most products come packaged into these days... itty bitty cartos and atty heads are nothing compared to all that waste.

Giraut · Aug 4, 2014

VapeAddict said:
I thought we all recycled our batteries..

Yeah but they're like plastic bottles: sure they're recycled, but the amount of energy that goes into producing and transporting these things for an actual active product life measured in mere hours, if not minutes, is insane.

Drone · Aug 4, 2014

So where am I supposed to put my used motor oil? I do put it in old plastic milk jugs first.

Killowatt · Aug 5, 2014

Drone said:
So where am I supposed to put my used motor oil? I do put it in old plastic milk jugs first.

Most auto parts stores will take used oil, I take mine to the local auto zone. No charge for this either.

Tap'n on my S5

MD_Boater · Aug 5, 2014

Ya know... All of those heavy metals were in the ground to begin with. We dug them up, processed them into products, and then we buried them again. What's the fuss? There are absolutely no products made out of anything that isn't already part of the Earth to begin with. So, all we do is move things around a little. Even oil is a natural product of the Earth.

I'm not condoning pollution, but everything is green. Given enough time buried, everything will turn back into what it was before we found it. We humans just tend to think in terms of time relative to our own lifespans. When you consider that 5000 years is a microscopic blip in terms of geologic time, something that takes 2000 years to break down is still doing it relatively quickly.

Giraut · Aug 5, 2014

MD_Boater said:
Ya know... All of those heavy metals were in the ground to begin with.

So was uranium, oil, and a whole slew of nasty stuffs. But they were in the ground in very diluted form, not highly concentrated in landfills and seeping down into water tables below. Or, in the case of oil, it was trapped under impermeable rock, unable to pollute anything. We extracted and concentrated these chemicals, but we're not putting them back into the ground where they were found in the form in which they were originally stored.

MD_Boater · Aug 5, 2014

No argument from me. I agree.

Celtic Fog · Aug 6, 2014

MD_Boater said:
Ya know... All of those heavy metals were in the ground to begin with. We dug them up, processed them into products, and then we buried them again. What's the fuss? There are absolutely no products made out of anything that isn't already part of the Earth to begin with. So, all we do is move things around a little. Even oil is a natural product of the Earth.

I'm not condoning pollution, but everything is green. Given enough time buried, everything will turn back into what it was before we found it. We humans just tend to think in terms of time relative to our own lifespans. When you consider that 5000 years is a microscopic blip in terms of geologic time, something that takes 2000 years to break down is still doing it relatively quickly.

So very true. Also , at most garbage disposal sites, metals are separated by the city, or the company that collects the trash, and recycled. Along with plastics, glass and paper. As for my old ego batteries and what not, i recycle at best buys recycle cans.

Countries killing people by the thousands each month with war, and we still have hipsters in America that worry about the batteries hitting the landfill....only in America. Land of the uninformed and ignorant.

Giraut · Aug 6, 2014

Celtic Fog said:
Countries killing people by the thousands each month with war, and we still have hipsters in America that worry about the batteries hitting the landfill....only in America. Land of the uninformed and ignorant.

Celtic Fog · Aug 6, 2014

But we haven't asked you to stop posting yet, so keep hunting for troll food Giraut

My comment was directly related to the topic...Im sure my comment had to many words you didn't understand, or maybe just to many words for you to get through....

Love the drawing you did of yourself however, spot on donkey.

jack · Aug 6, 2014

I'm here to get others opinions and then perhaps learn something . Lets not let this turn into,what other places have turned into . No one has to read every thread and every post . I like free speech as long as it's respectful . I know no one, I respect enough to be a censor of anything . Don't take things so seriously or be so thin skinned .

Whiskey · Aug 6, 2014

Our trash company allows and takes care of all the odd recyclables for us like batteries, paint, oil, light bulbs, we pay a little extra per month but it is so worth every penny.
Edit....Hipster here and damned proud of it****

Celtic Fog · Aug 6, 2014

I think Jack might have killed the thread unintentionally....and Whiskey, your not hipster, you pay for your trash to be taken away, rather than sell it as repurposed environmental collectables....hehehehehe. This forum will never be like "them"....to many good people here.

Disposables and the environment - interesting comment at the supermarket

Giraut

VapeAddict

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jae

UncleRJ

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Giraut

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Killowatt

MD_Boater

Giraut

MD_Boater

Celtic Fog

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Giraut

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jack

Whiskey

Celtic Fog

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