what is worse for the environment analogs or ecigs

[rmasu]

Hi all,
Just wanted to settle a disagrement with another forum member. I say e-cigs are worse for the environment. He says analogs are worse because of the butts and the smoke.
Any opinions, facts would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[DCrist721]

There's no poll though...


Anyway, rmasu believes that the pollution put out by the e-cig factories outweighs the lack of pollution output by e-cigs. However, as I said in the other thread, the factories that make the e-cigs aren't owned by the e-cig companies. The e-cig companies pay the factory to make e-cig, and if the factory wasn't producing e-cigs they would be making something else; so they would be producing pollution regardless. E-cigs don't produce any of the smoke that analogs do, nor do they result in the littering of, and disposal of, millions of fiberglass or plastic cigarette butts which will never break down into natural components, and which can cause the injury and death of animals that mistake it for food, especially birds.

I even believe that the act of using an e-cig in the public is actually GOOD for the environment in the long run, because it will expose analog smokers to e-cigs and encourage them to switch over to e-cigs, thereby eliminating all the pollution that would have been produced by that smoker throughout the rest of their life had they continued using analogs.

Here are some facts:
The average cigarette smoker will smoke over half a million cigarettes in their life, that's a sh*tload of smoke and filters. And every year more then 2 billion pounds of cigarette butts are discarded. That's a lot considering it takes almost 2 thousand cigarette butts to weigh 1 pound. So that's almost 4 trillion cigarette butts a year.

 

[trog100]

i recon real cigs are better for the environent.. mostly cos they kill off a load of human polluters a bit sooner.. he he

u have a nice line in argument DC.. he he..

trog

 

[Nuck]

cigarettes are bio-degradable..ecigs are not.

I gotta go with ecigs, plastic and batteries being a lot worse.

 

[DCrist721]

cigarettes are bio-degradable..ecigs are not.

I gotta go with ecigs, plastic and batteries being a lot worse.

Cigarettes are NOT biodegradable. Tobacco and paper is, but not the filters. And almost 4 trillion cigarette butts are discarded each year.

And in most states, it's illegal to discard lithium batteries. And no one is throwing out their plastic carts, they get re-used.

Do I really have to go to the local University and start asking professors in the Physical Sciences department to prove this point?

 

[LaceyUnderall]

Gotta love Trog!

Truly, he is right. The more humans killed off the better the planet is. However, I have to side with the e-cig as being better for the environment. Yes, it is probably true that the manufacturing plants of ecigs produce unwanted items into the environment, but the same can be said for tobacco cigarette manufacturing as well. So in this respect, until there is a study that compares the waste from both, I see them as equal contributors.

As far as the waste from the actual ecig. We do have the lithium ion batteries, but if disposed of properly, they can be recycled. Do we have recycling for lithium ion batteries? Sure! Battery Disposal Guide for Households - Where to Safely Recycle Used Batteries. Are you going to have to make an effort? Yes you are. But good greenies will do it no matter what. Recycle!

As far as the plastic mouthpieces, it is my understanding they are made from #1 type plastic which means if you remove the fiber filling, you can throw them into the recycling bin at home. AND I should also mention that you can reuse them until they fall apart and even clean them with a light water and soap solution. Reuse!

As far as the e-cig as a whole, you can minimize the amount of cigarettes you smoke by reusing the same unit until it's death so there is the final R. Reduce!

Cigarette butts contain traces of all of the sh*t they put into them. So not only do you have a cigarette .... that will never break down, but you have all of these horrible things leaching into the ground. CigaretteLitter.Org - The Facts About Cigarette Butts and Litter - Facts. People assume that they are made of materials that will eventually break down because it feels kind of like cotton. A battery, is a battery and because it is metal, people automatically will not just throw it on the ground.

Second Hand Smoke (SHS) also contains a multitude of items including arsenic, benzene, and many more items Secondhand Smoke: Questions and Answers - National Cancer Institute. All of these not only are harmful to humans, but also harmful to the environment.

Currently, we know that the resulting vapor of the electronic cigarette includes nicotine, propylene glycol and water. Nicotine and water are obviously natural to the earth and propylene glycol is an organic compound mostly composed of carbon, which I do believe is naturally occurring in the environment as well (someone might want to yeah or nay this.)

So my final verdict: The electronic cigarette is definitely far more eco-friendly than the tobacco cigarette. Holy hell! I just wrote a post for my green blog! WOO!

 

[CssReb]

I'm sending all my dead batteries, dead atomizers and used carts back to china

 

[strayling]

I wonder if it would be possible to make a clockwork e-cig, like those clockwork radios?

 

[LaceyUnderall]

I wonder if it would be possible to make a clockwork e-cig, like those clockwork radios?

we have a clockwork flashlight and it is the best thing ever. LOVE IT! It always works, never needs batteries and puts off good light. Gotta love Santa and his stocking stuffers!

 

[strayling]

we have a clockwork flashlight and it is the best thing ever. LOVE IT! It always works, never needs batteries and puts off good light. Gotta love Santa and his stocking stuffers!

A clockwork e-cig would be an awesome steampunk mod. I wish I had the mechanical aptitude to attempt it.

 

[Nuck]

Cigarettes are NOT biodegradable. Tobacco and paper is, but not the filters. And almost 4 trillion cigarette butts are discarded each year.

And in most states, it's illegal to discard lithium batteries. And no one is throwing out their plastic carts, they get re-used.

Do I really have to go to the local University and start asking professors in the Physical Sciences department to prove this point?

You have to look at the entire package and base it off equal numbers. If you are talking about current levels then of course the ecig is better. If all smokers were using ecigs it would far far worse than cigarettes.

Cigarettes are biodegradable, the butts degrade in 1-12 years including the cellular acetate. The chemicals that leach out are a real issue though.

Now consider all those people with batteries. It doesn't matter if they are legal to dispose off or not. People will throw them out. The mainstream will smoke the carts and dispose of them. They are pure plastic and will be around long after we are gone. There will be billions of them and they will be everywhere.

 

[DCrist721]

Cigarettes are biodegradable, the butts degrade in 1-12 years including the cellular acetate. The chemicals that leach out are a real issue though.

I'm sorry, but you're wrong, it's not biodegradable. The cellulose acetate (a type of plastic) of a cigarette .... breaks down into fragments that can not be seen 1-12 years, but it is still all there. You may not be able to see the small parts without the aid of a microscope, but the plastic is all still there, just in smaller pieces. It is not biodegradable. Not to mention most of the chemicals that are deposited in the filter are not biodegradable either.

Cartridges can theoretically be used forever, you just would need to periodically replace the poly-fill, so why would billions of them be discarded? And like Lacy said, they are recyclable. And that's still better in my mind then trillions of toxic filters discarded a year.

The people who would throw out e-cig batteries would also throw out lithium batteries from their cell phones and ipods, so theirs always going to be people throwing lithium batteries out. But the truth is, most people don't recycle them or throw them out, they get put into a drawer with old cellphones and wires that no one has any idea what they go to.

I'm curious to hear the rest of your reasoning as to why e-cigs would be worse for the environment if all the analog smokers switched.

I wonder if it would be possible to make a clockwork e-cig, like those clockwork radios?

Yes, very possible, and very easy. You know those USB battery packs that people have been using to power their passthrough on the go? Well they make those with a hand crank so you can charge up the internal battery without electrical current.

 

[Nuck]

Seriously..you expect the mainstream to reuse the carts? They are already making disposable ecigs. The mass market will never touch liquid.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

Seriously..you expect the mainstream to reuse the carts? They are already making disposable ecigs. The mass market will never touch liquid.

Now the disposable ecigs... THOSE are going to be terrible litter problems. I am strongly against those.

 

[DCrist721]

Seriously..you expect the mainstream to reuse the carts? They are already making disposable ecigs. The mass market will never touch liquid.

Ok, that still doesn't change the fact that cigarette filters are not biodegradable. They are a type of plastic like the cartridges. And considering that a cartridge lasts from 5-15 cigarettes, and a cigarette filter lasts one cigarettes, w're looking at a lot more cigarette filters then carts being discarded.

Also, about the batteries. Most garbage processing plants in suburban and urban areas have people standing at a conveyor belt who's job it is to take things like recyclables, batteries, and toxic materials out, so the only batteries that will make it into dumps or be burnt are ones in rural areas. I know about this because a friend of mine works at one. That's one of the reasons why you should cut old credit card up into little tiny pieces, because he has come across wallets and credit card.

But yeah, disposable e-cigs are going to be a problem. I think that they should have a $5 (or even $10) deposit that you get back when you return the spent e-cig back to the store you got it at or you get it by mailing it to the company. In fact, this should be done with regular batteries too.

 

[Nuck]

Now the disposable ecigs... THOSE are going to be terrible litter problems. I am strongly against those.

I completely agree. I can't believe in this day and age anyone would think they were a good idea. I would expect them to be banned quite quickly in Canada. Even the plastic bags are about to get a tax per bag.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

I completely agree. I can't believe in this day and age anyone would think they were a good idea. I would expect them to be banned quite quickly in Canada. Even the plastic bags are about to get a tax per bag.

We just moved back to Indy and I was shocked at the local Marsh supermarket. They give you .05 for every bag you bring in. I always carry 5 of my cloth shoppers. I was happy for my .25! My greenieness has always payed off to me... but now people are giving me money! LOL. But they even give you cents back for plastic bags of theirs. I am impressed and even though I can buy down the road for cheaper... their green policy isn't nearly as nice.

 

[Nuck]

Sorry man.. I can't debate this..the black list drama is just sooo damn compelling

 

[LaceyUnderall]

Sorry man.. I can't debate this..the black list drama is just sooo damn compelling

no sh*t. You are watching that too I see? It's crazy over there.

 

[trog100]

I'm sending all my dead batteries, dead atomizers and used carts back to china

a wee bit off topic.. but i did read recently the chinese are thinking of charging us lot a pollution tax..

we might all have nice clean air but only cos we expect the chinese to sh-t their own country up making the sh-t we consume..

us western consumers are the real polluters not the chinese.. they are just daft enough to do it.. they might be wising up thow.. he he

trog