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Let’s talk about being an eco-friendly vaper. Did you know that the biggest source of plastic pollution in our oceans is cigarette butts? The ‘filters’ (inverted commas as they don’t actually filter anything) on traditional cigarettes are composed of Cellulose Acetate. This is a type of plastic that can take over a decade to decompose and over 5.6 trillion cigarettes with this type of filter are produced each year, with as many as two thirds irresponsibly disposed of.
That is potentially 1.8 TRILLION plastic cigarette butts working their way into the ocean each year.
So, before we go on it’s important to remember that vaping produces a fraction of the waste that smoking does. If you have stopped smoking and started vaping, you are already making the eco-friendly choice. A 20 a day smoker will alone produce around 620 cigarette butts a month. Multiply this by 7 million smokers and you potentially have nearly 4.5 billion a month in the UK alone! The average vaper over a month will use 2 - 3 coils and 5 - 10 10ml bottles of e-liquid.
But how can you be a true eco-friendly vaper? It all comes down to good choices. Let’s take a look at 3 steps to help.
1. Choose a reusable vape
Let’s address the elephant in the room, disposable vapes.
These single use vapes have rocketed in popularity in the past 18 months and there are huge amounts on the market at the minute, with a new one available seemingly every week.
The clue is in the name – disposables are designed to be used once and disposed of once the e-liquid runs dry, or the battery runs out of charge. They cannot be recharged or refilled and you cannot change the vape coils.
In terms of ultimate vaping convenience, disposables hit the mark. Great for a night out, in the car, holidays or in an emergency, or for smokers trying vaping for the first time. There’s also no denying that they deliver an intense flavour. Many smokers and vapers alike have fallen for the strong, sweet flavour that disposable vapes deliver.
In terms of potential impact on the environment though, disposables aren’t great. They are all built in, nothing can be removed or replaced. This means that they can be difficult to recycle. Now, we at Totally Wicked understand that these are not the most environmentally friendly way to vape. We have pledged to limit the impact by taking any brand of disposable vape and recycling them for you. So just drop them into one of our stores and we will sort them.
Alternatives to Disposable Vapes
The VLTZ range is all about delivering those strong, sweet flavours you love from disposables, but in more sustainable and economical devices. Take the VLTZ flex Pro Bar: it offers ultimate versatility with options for both convenient pre-filled pods and cost-effective refillable pods.
If using pre-filled, simply pop one into the rechargeable battery and replace the pod when empty - no need to discard a battery each time. With a pre-filled pod often priced at £2.99, you’ll significantly reduce your spending and waste. Or, opt for refillable pods with your favourite VLTZ e-liquid for even greater savings and flavour choice.
Even more eco-friendly vapes
If you’re environmentally conscious and looking to be a truly eco-friendly vaper, consider moving to a completely reusable vape kit. These kits can be recharged and refilled with VLTZ e-liquid over and over again. The only thing you’ll throw away is the atomizer when it needs changing now and again.
To get the best possible flavour and performance from VLTZ e-liquid, we’ve thoroughly tested which vapes work best with highly flavoured e-liquid. We recommend the Skope Air, Tornado GTL, and arc Impact as the most compatible kits with VLTZ.
2. Recycle vape supplies
You can’t recycle everything, but there are some key things that can absolutely be recycled properly.
Batteries is one. There are two types of vaping battery, ones that can be removed from vapes, these tend to be 18650 or 21700 batteries. The others are built into the body of the vape and cannot be taken out without completely dismantling your vape.
All batteries have a life and will need to be replaced at some point. Once this time comes, you can recycle them. The removeable batteries can go into any battery bin. These can be found in supermarkets, recycling centres and Totally Wicked vape stores. Non-removeable batteries might not be able to go into all of these bins, so just drop these into one of our stores and we can recycle them for free. If in doubt with any of your batteries, just come in store and we can dispose of them properly for you.
There is some conflicting info when it comes to e-liquid bottles, so I can only talk about Totally Wicked products. If our e-liquid bottles are washed out properly, with lots of water to completely dilute any e-liquid that might be left, then all parts can be recycled.
3. Buy UK made
Most devices aren’t made in the UK, but when it comes to e-liquid, you can seriously reduce your ‘air miles’ by choosing e-liquid made in the UK.
There are so many great e-liquid manufactures in the UK now and there is so much choice available. Be careful of sneaky marketing and if in doubt ask the company where their e-liquid is produced.
Here at Totally Wicked all of our core ranges are UK made e-liquid, created and manufactured right here in Blackburn, Lancashire.
This was a look at ways to become an eco-friendly vaper. Remember if in doubt, talk to your vaping company. Ask them what they are doing to be more environmentally friendly.
*All numbers are estimates
