By now, most people know that vaping is a better choice for nicotine delivery than smoking. The chemical compounds in tobacco are notoriously hazardous to our health, while vaping is considered the superior option for those who want to take care of themselves in the long term.
But, health matters aside, there’s another hidden cost to smoking that rarely gets talked about, which is its impacts on the environment. Let’s have a look at what those impacts are, and discuss another crucial question: is vaping bad for the environment, and if so, how does it compare to smoking?
The Hidden Environmental Costs of Cigarettes
Let’s look at the ways in which smoking cigarettes harms the environment before we move onto vaping. First off, cigarette butts are one of the most commonly littered items around the world – anyone can tell you this just by walking along a sidewalk or street, or taking a look around the edges of a parking lot. That alone is a huge problem for the environment, as cigarette butts take quite a while to break down due to the fibres that are inside of them.
Then, we have the effect of cigarettes on our air quality. We all know that second-hand smoke is harmful to people and animals, but on a larger scale, it’s bad for our air quality, collectively speaking. Studies have shown that in areas in which cigarette smoking is banned, air quality has improved drastically.
The tobacco industry has also exacerbated issues related to deforestation. To accommodate smokers around the world, forests must be knocked down and replaced with tobacco farms and cigarette production facilities, and because of the incredibly high number of people who smoke throughout the world, this has had a major impact on our forests over the last several decades. Meanwhile, the act of curing tobacco often requires the burning of wood, which releases CO2 into the air, thus having an effect on climate change.
Is Vaping More Environmentally Friendly Than Cigarettes?
Now, let’s take a look at vaping. What are the ways that vaping can impact the environment? First off, we want to make one thing clear: it would be dishonest to say that vaping has zero impact on the environment. The act of mass-producing vaping products, and transporting them across the world, undeniably has a carbon footprint, like any other industry, and of course, people who fail to dispose of their vaping products properly are also contributing to environmental problems.
But, there are also lots of positives. The vaping industry doesn’t lead to a massive deforestation crisis like the cigarette industry does, nor does it rely on the constant burning of wood, which adds CO2 into the air. Vaping doesn’t seem to have a negative impact on air quality, either, because vapor dissipates into the air within seconds, unlike smoke, which lingers for longer. At the same time, while cigarette smoke contains hundreds of toxins and pollutants in its tobacco, vape juices do not, and so overall, vaping is less harmful to the air that we breathe.
How E-Cigs Can Help Reduce Cigarette Waste
Switching to vaping has notably positive benefits from an environmental standpoint. For everyone who switches from smoking to vaping, they’re contributing to less environmental waste, not only in the form of cigarette butts, but in the greater impacts that include the destruction of forests, and the release of toxins into the environment that affect the air we breathe and our detrimental to our ecosystem as a whole.
Clearing the Air, Land, and Sea
It’s no exaggeration to say that vaping, rather than smoking, can be a choice that benefits the air, the land, and the sea. In terms of air, we’ve already spoken about the difference in air quality where smoking is banned, and the vapor produced through e-cigarettes is not believed to have a detrimental impact on the environment. In terms of land, the lack of cigarette butts in areas where only vaping is allowed means far less littering. And, in terms of the sea, we all know that countless amounts of cigarette butts end up in the ocean over time, polluting the water and harming ocean life.
Vaping: The Better Choice for Smokers, and for Our Planet
At the end of the day, by choosing to vape instead of smoke, you can play your role in reducing the negative effects that the smoking industry has on our environment. Beyond the way in which switching to vaping can have health impacts, it can help you maintain a “green” lifestyle. At Vape Juice Depot, we offer a wide selection of vaping products that allow you to find exactly what you’re looking for so that you can replace your cigarette habit at last, and find complete satisfaction, with a variety of disposables, pod systems, sub-ohm systems, e-liquids, and more.