Eco-Friendly Vaping: How to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint
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Time to read 5 min
Learn how to vape sustainably and minimize your environmental impact. Explore eco-friendly practices and products in the vaping world.
Vape tech innovation has evolved to have an eco-friendlier focus. Gen Z and Millennials are particularly concerned about the impact they have on the planet. Many switch from cigarettes to vaping in an attempt to minimize that impact – but did you know that you can go a step further than that?
Eco-friendly vaping is where the future of vape tech innovation lies. Streamlining the recycling process, sourcing ethically mined metals and parts, and minimizing plastic content of disposable parts such as pods are all ways in which the current vape market are exploring eco-friendly alternatives.
This article covers everything that you need to know about reducing your environmental footprint even if you are a heavy vape device user.
The Focus on Sustainable Materials for Eco-Friendly Vapes
Vape Kits as we know them are changing. They are evolving in front of our eyes in response to the government’s single use vape ban here in the UK. Manufacturers have been forced into a position where they must produce reusable devices only for the UK vape consumer. This move might be troublesome for the manufacturers but with over 5 million disposables tossed away each week, it is good news for the environment.
Other changes in vape device manufacturing include the use of biodegradable and recyclable materials when creating new vape devices and when designing new packaging for those devices. Areas of improvement might include:
· Eco-friendly packaging which is recyclable of biodegradable
· Recyclable or biodegradable pods for pod kit vapes.
· Longer battery life
· Vapes which heat more with less power.
· Recyclable tanks
· Packaging materials which can be recycled or composted
· Reduced packaging materials
Brands such as Vaporesso are creating Eco based devices with better battery use and using recycled parts. Innokin have recently followed suit with a pod kit revealed to use eco-friendly pods. Other brands are joining the call for more sustainable products, too.
· Learn How To Recycle Vape Kits Here!
E-Liquid Choices can be More Eco-Friendly
Another way to make your vaping experience more environmentally friendly is to switch out your regular vape juice for a more sustainable alternative. Vape juice comes in all colours and flavours, so you should find one which suits you.
Vape juices which are better for the environment typically use sustainable ingredients to source flavourings. They will degrade over time, usually having a shorter shelf life than standard vape juices. That aside, using organic ingredients to create vape juices is a firm fan favourite – and rightly so.
Responsible sourcing of manufacturing ingredients and the reduction of harmful chemicals used to make these organic vape juices means they are significantly better for the environment.
Remember too that vape juice bottles are made of plastic. Some companies might choose recycled plastics to lessen their carbon footprint. You might also find that some companies make sure to use recyclable plastics only. You should always recycle your used vape carts, pods, and vape juice bottles once you clean them out.
· Learn How To Clean Your Vape Device in This Previous Article!
Proper Disposal Practices for Vape Kits and Paraphernalia
The vast majority of vape devices are not implicitly environmentally problematic within themselves. There is a shadow of doubt over the mining of lithium to create lithium-ion batteries, but asides from this argument there are very few refillable vape devices which are not recyclable. The problem, in fact, seems to be that people either drop the disposable vape devices on the street or that they do not know they can recycle parts of their old reusable vape kits.
To properly dispose of vape kits in the UK you should make sure that the parts are all cleaned with hot, soapy water. This excludes the battery, of course! Use up all of the e-liquid and try to empty the battery before you dispose of any vape device. If it is a reusable device, you can break it down into its constituent parts and recycle those.
In a refillable vape device the battery, the tank, and the mouthpiece, can all be recycled. However, they cannot all be placed in a recycling bin. The glass parts can be placed in your household recycling, but the battery part must be taken to a battery collection point which you can usually find at the checkouts at your local supermarket.
To dispose of a single use vape device simply take it to your local vape shop and make use of their recycling programs. The UK is also home to certain vape recycling schemes such as Recover, the Green Wings project, and the Totally Wicked Nationwide E-Cig recycling program.
Energy Efficiency Improvements Will Make Vaping More Eco-Friendly
One of the main ways manufacturers are already starting to make improvement to the eco-friendliness of vape kits is by increasing the energy efficiency of vape devices. By providing vape devices with more power for less wattage input, manufacturers are boosting the power behind your vaping experience at the same time as they are making more for less.
Energy efficient vape devices both reduce energy consumption costs by having longer lasting batteries and helps reduce energy expenditure by charging for less. Vape device users can contribute to the longer-lasting battery life of their vape device through regular maintenance, cleaning, and charging the device properly.
Vape devices do not have copper batteries like the old mobile phones did. There is a persistent myth that surrounds rechargeable batteries thanks to those copper batteries. If you consistently recharged your old mobile phone battery when there was still 20% left in the device, the battery would ‘remember’ that and only fill up to 80% next time. Modern vape devices are not like this although the legend persists.
Instead, you can charge your vape device whenever you like, be it nearly full or completely empty. But it does help to keep in mind that your vape’s battery is good for a finite number of charges. Estimates say a vape device battery will last for around 500 charges before it needs to be replaced. There are other battery care tips for your vape which you should take into consideration, too.
Make your vape’s battery last longer by:
· Not leaving your vape unattended on the charger.
· Not charging overnight.
· Removing your vape device when it is fully charged.
· Not puffing too frequently
· Turning down the battery power output on your device if it is possible.
Eco-Friendly Vaping is Already Here!
Eco-friendly vaping might represent the future of vaping, but that future is already here. With devices like the Eco Nano Pod Kit and the Aspire Minican Plus kit bringing users better consistency in sustainability and reusability, it will soon be a standard feature of every vape device that they are made from recycled parts, or that they are fully recyclable themselves.
Whether you opt for a higher powered model like the Voopoo Drag or the Geekvape Aegis range, or whether you go for reusable vapes instead of your average disposable vape, you will be making a contribution to becoming a more environmentally friendly vape device user.
Finally, we would like to draw your attention to the newest line of vape devices, aimed at replicating the experience of vaping using a disposable device but with reusability added in. These devices have the capacity to wean single use vape users off these devices and into the world of reusable vapes. These vape device manufacturers include Elf bar, makers of the Elfa Pro Pod Kit, and SKE Crystal, makers of the SKE Crystal Plus pod kit.
Eco-friendly vaping is well on its way, having been given a fateful push by the UK government’s new legislation, set to come into play in June 2025. The time to make the switch to pod kits and vape kits is now. The future of eco-friendly vaping depends upon it.
