this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2024
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Disposable vapes are indefensible. Many, or maybe most, of them contain rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, but manufacturers prefer to sell new ones.

To make a point about how wasteful this practice is—and to also make a pretty rad project and video—Chris Doel took 130 disposable vape batteries (the bigger "3,500 puff" types with model 20400 cells) found littered at a music festival and converted them into a 48-volt, 1,500-watt e-bike battery, one that powered an e-bike with almost no pedaling more than 20 miles. You can see the whole build and watch Doel zoom along trails on his YouTube video.

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[–] [email protected] 96 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Those little colored flavored vapes are IMHO one of the worst vapes. Once they're done, there's no replacing the flavor. I see them often at the rehab I work at. I've seen some with replaceable flavor cartridges, but those are also bad due to the excessive plastic waste.

I'm all for vapes as a means to quit, but they're also excessively used as a means of maintaining the habit.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I’m not a vape user, but the model is the kind of thing that just makes me so angry.

In a world that makes sense:

  • small, mostly metal vape chassis
  • rechargeable, replaceable battery
  • built-in glass reservoir with charging valve
  • vape juice sold in medium to large recyclable cans with standard interface to the charging valve

In a world where Profit is God (the real world):

  • disposable chassis
  • disposable battery
  • if it’s refillable at all, it’s via non-recyclable, mixed material, mostly plastic, proprietary cartridges and you can save 5% if you subscribe online for refills, 10% if you pay yearly, $5 credit if you refer a friend on social media using hashtag #smoovape
  • probably gives you turbo cancer because the juice is made in a repurposed Freon plant that was inadequately converted and they just don’t answer the phone when the FDA or EPA call
[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

We used to have a great vape market for those types of vapes. Since 2020 state and fed government has rinsed the market “for the kids” and basically created what we see now, a market of 98% disposable sold by overseas companies. Before that there were countless brands making batteries, tanks, etc. now a lot of smoke shops don’t even sell refillable vapes or liquid.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah it's a shame. I've been vaping for 14 Yeats now and seen the whole story unfold. It really sucks.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I think part of it is something else - ease of use and ease of access.
The "world that makes sense" product exists already:
https://www.elementvape.com/box-mod-kits

While I was vaping I mixed my own liquids though, as the cost savings was immense and I could easily lower the nicotine mg/ml on my own until I quit it altogether.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Can't buy nicotine from the wholesalers anymore to do that in the US. Feds made it illegal.

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[–] hex 6 points 2 weeks ago

The first thing you described is literally what we used to have. God I miss the good old days of vaping.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Yeah tbh I've never really seen anyone successfully quit through vaping. Nicotine pouches or lozenges are much more effective imo.

I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions, but like you said, the vast majority of people vaping are just maintaining.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I did. It took a while because I enjoyed it so much, but it worked better than anything else. It simulated the smoking experience, tasted great and was a fun little device to tinker with. Sure it made me look stupid but in return I got healthier lungs.

Of course I was wrapping my own coils and used a mech mod, the concept of a juul made it so stupidly easy to vape without understanding how it works and just programmed everyone to use cartridges.

And here we are.

When used correctly to wean and taper, vaping can be really helpful as a quit smoking aid.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

In my experience many of the people who haven't quit are self medicating for attention or depressive reasons. Of the folks I know who vape about half were diagnosed with ADHD later in life (30+) and quit after finding a stimulant medication that worked for them. The rest are unmedicated and self medicating with nicotine and coffee or energy drinks. Self medicating is overlooked in virtually every discussion about nicotine and I'd like to see it considered more often when the topic comes up instead of just leaping straight to "nicotine use bad" or "nicotine users should be punished" like most discussions do.

Edit: there's also some interesting research re: nicotine's neuroprotective properties that gets lost in the prohibition fervor

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago

Assuming non-wasteful delivery methods, I'd still call that a win as vaping is generally less harmful to the health of the user.

Quitting is of course preferable, but I support harm reduction policies in general

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

I know quite a few people that have quit through vaping, and even if they hadn't, vapes are definitely better for their health than cigarettes.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I just started vaping more AND smoking because I could vape in my dorm during winter.....

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

There's peanut butter in my chocolate!

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[–] [email protected] 90 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Yeah, disposable vapes should be made illegal, not only are they lowering the bar for the access because they're cheap and accessible to minors, not only because they are an e-waste, but because it wastes valuable lithium, also those are perfectly chargeable batteries, is a bit fucked up that it's more profitable to use rechargeable lithium batteries than something disposable

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 weeks ago

is a bit fucked up that it's more profitable to use rechargeable lithium batteries than something disposable

That's because the global manufacturing industries have almost exclusively gone over to lithium-ion batteries. Disposable batteries are ceasing to be commodity items. It's seriously difficult to find a D cell battery these days.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

My evil side wants them to be more popular where I live so I can collect massive amounts of lithium batteries for free

[–] [email protected] 67 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Disposable vapes will be banned in the UK starting in June 2025.

Based.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Just wanted to comment that this should happen faster than in a few years... and then checked the calendar

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Still there's no reason to wait that long. Ban now the supply to the stores and full ban on 2025 if they still have stock.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It's very normal to give businesses a short period to make arrangements/sell off stock.

They were never going to pass a law that banned them right from that second.

This is a good move. The damage that will continue to happen for the next 6 months or whatever is miniscule compared to the damage of just allowing it to continue indefinitely. Hopefully other countries follow suit.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They should never have been allowed in the first place

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 weeks ago

cool! in no time at all, disposable vapes will usurp cigarette butts as the #1 form of litter across the globe! but in all seriousness, god bless this guy. hopefully his example will inspire people to be slightly less careless and slightly more cognizant of how they dispose of their waste (audience laughter turns to applause)

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Hats off to the dude for not wasting the batteries. However, I would not want ass and balls near those cheap Chinese made lithium batteries.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

aren't pretty much all Li(Fe)Po cells made cheaply in China?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago

That's a fair point, but I still don't want them near my taint!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Perhaps it's odd, but I have never seen anyone use a vape in public. Nor have I seen one just lying on the ground. I maybe need to get out the forest here and visit civilization for a bit again.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

They are super common where weed is legal. People fly into somewhere like Denver for the weekend to catch a show. Rather than buying a reusable battery, they will get a disposable vape (and probably some gummies).

Then it ends up in the landfill or as litter. I am in favor of making these one time use electronics illegal (along with single use plastics like balloons, plastic silverware, etc.. but that is another thread)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

They aren't even disposable, so it's crazy to me how they can be sold as such.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Go to a nightclub sometime. Discounted vapes in the outside areas are a tripping Hazard.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

Gigs and concerts are pretty grim for this now too.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

Discarded vapes? The only immediate trip hazard of tripping on discounted vapes would be the mob of people trying to buy them.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I mean, yeah. Have you ever been outside?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Despite the larger size and bright colors, they're a bit more discreet than cigarettes. Most places that ban cigarettes equally ban vapes, so they're often concealed more. That probably has a spillover effect to areas they're allowed. They're only activated when sucked, so, unlike a cigarette that's burning whether you suck it or not, most people take a puff or 3 of vape and then go a few minutes without it. It's not as obvious as a person deliberately smoking one whole cigarette.

But maybe they're not around you. I think the other comments covered the locations well enough, sarcasm included. But if you suddenly smell something sweet like fruit or cereal, casually take a look for someone vaping

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

really? they're almost as common as cigarette butts once were now. are you a hermit?

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (16 children)

I so so want to purchase an ebike.But the companies don't seem likely to stick around for long though.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You pretty much should only buy one from a shop that has a physical location near you and can do repairs. Like everybody around me sells Trek, so if I ever got one, it'd be a Trek with a Bosch motor. Bike shops will not repair ebikes they don't sell, even though they'll repair regular bikes. And neither Trek nor Bosch are going anywhere.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

I see your point, but I also saw Juiced Bikes go out of business last month after 15 years in the industry.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

To be fair the supposedly reusable pod kits only lasted me about a month or maybe two before whatever sensor that activates it when you draw breaks (what's wrong with buttons) .

That said all these disposables should at the very least be rechargeable it's truly stupid to buy something with a single charge I bet half of these are sold at about 60 percent or so battery and who will know.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I much prefer buttons, except the one time a button got stuck and it continued to heat until the plastic melted in my pants. Shit needs a safety shutoff too.

Honestly the entire idea of disposable vapes should be scrapped.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

It should be mandatory that all electronics be recycled by the manufacturer or seller, and the cost of recycled should be reflected on the product price.

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