Vaping gets a lot of bad press. While we hear the occasional positive report about the health benefits of handheld vaping devices, they’re generally overwhelmed by coverage of hypothetical risks and exaggerated dangers. It’s not easy to find the facts about vaping. There are many that argue that vaping’s potential positive effect on public health is being ignored or twisted by powerful interests and lobbying groups. It’s true that vaping is too new for us to understand every potential risk it could pose. But if you’re using vaping to stay off cigarettes, you can rest easier knowing that you’ve distanced yourself from the well-documented dangers of smoking tobacco. The substances in cigarette smoke that make it uniquely harmful to us and the world around us are either entirely absent from e-cig vapour or only present in minute amounts. This makes it much safer for vapers, and also for everyone subject to “second-hand vapour”.
So, clickbait-y title aside, I actually do align vaping with the future of our society, with rising sea levels, global warming, the cost of living crisis, the national health crisis and the worldwide addiction to cigarettes, we’ve got a cocktail of bad times right now. I’m not saying vaping is a cure-all however, I do feel it has the potential to get the world off cigarettes and onto something that is cheaper, better for the environment and much, much safer. Over 1.3 billion people are considered smokers by the WHO and over 80% of them live in low and middle-income countries. Consequently, these countries have the highest rates of smoking-related illnesses and deaths. Poor education can be an issue as well; for example, just 26.6% of Chinese adults say they know that smoking cigarettes can be known to cause heart disease, cancer, and stroke. On top of that each year, 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are disposed of. A generous estimate is that half of them end up in landfills – the other half ends up in soil, lakes, oceans, and forests. Cigarette butts are theoretically biodegradable but it takes them almost 2 years to completely vanish – and that is under perfect conditions. Couple that with the fact that 600 million trees are chopped down every year by the tobacco industry and it makes for a pretty grim picture of the future if we continue smoking cigarettes.
Now this isn’t supposed to be a “quit smoking now” lecture or anything of the sort, I myself enjoy the occasional suicide stick, and I don't think the change will happen suddenly, or even at any pace at all. But with more and more countries going the route of banning new-borns from ever buying cigarettes (see New Zealand and soon the UK) it seems that the change will happen. I don’t think people will give up their stress-reliever easily however, and that is where vaping comes in, to help people with the transition and, as more and more people jump on the vaping train, the industry will pump out better and better products and services. We’re already seeing it with better and more practical vape kits being produced on an almost daily basis and soon we here at rollingrefills.co.uk will be offering a customisable subscription service so you can have all of your vaping essentials delivered to your door monthly. The future is bright with vaping - For the most part you don’t throw anything away with a vape, the bottle the liquid comes in is recyclable and the actual vape you will use for years, even longer if it’s of good quality, it’s important to remember that everything we consume and use will have an impact on our environment but by taking small, incremental steps we can reduce that impact by reusing and recycling wherever possible. While vaping is never going to be totally waste free, it’s a much safer choice for our bodies and our planet.
My final point is the price, vaping is getting cheaper and cheaper while the price of cigarettes is soaring. The meteoric rise of Elf Bars has meant that you can get disposables as an alternative to a 20 pack of cigarettes for as little as £3.60 on our website with the 10% new customer discount, these are admittedly not the best choice when thinking of the environmental impact of vaping however they can be re-used and disposed of properly if you remove the battery and take it to a battery disposal, these can be found on your local council website. On top of that the savings when using a vape kit and any of the thousands of different e-liquids available are astounding as you are able to control your intake much more precisely than with regular tobacco cigarettes Whereas that 20 pack of cigarettes could cost you anywhere from £11-£16 and that number is only going to rise with new laws and more taxes. When you remember that over 80% of smokers live in low and middle-income countries (According to the WHO) a saving of almost £10 - possibly everyday - can be life changing.
All in, there’s a multitude of benefits environmentally and economically as well as health wise when switching from smoking cigarettes to vaping, those benefits and the potential of vaping to save smokers a large portion of their hard-earned cash, mean that the vaping subculture could have a monumental impact in the future of our society, or maybe I’m overly-optimistic or exaggerating, who knows, I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.
If you need help choosing a kit that’ll stand the test of time, or want to figure out which e-liquid is best for you, have a browse of our e-liquid catalogue and vaping page, or have a look at our top 5 e-liquids of 2022. We’re on hand to help you find something that’s just right. You can contact us directly on our socials @rollingrefills
Sources:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-smoking/statistics-on-smoking-england-2020
https://tobaccofreelife.org/why-quit-smoking/smoking-effects/smoking-environmental-risks/
