Earlier quoted context omitted.
It should be at a minimum stored safely. How and why are the environmental effects not a factor for you?
Regular trash is already stored safely.
The great pacific garbage patch disagrees.
There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
101–110 of 673 posts
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#102These products are targeted towards high school teens and middle schoolers, carry a number of serious health risks, and anyone involved in making them can rot in hell.
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Trash disposal (to regulated landfills, not beaches) is enormously inexpensive and increasing the cost of every item through a laborious return program doesn't improve anything.
Nearly all the plastic humans have made still exists. The great garbage patch in the Pacific is growing fast. The plastic is ending up in everything. We need to do better. Make less waste. Use less plastic.
> Nearly all the plastic humans have made still exists.
And it just doesn't matter. It's a tiny amount of mass / volume.
> The great garbage patch in the Pacific is growing fast.
Ocean plastics are almost entirely a consequence of (particularly Indonesian) fishing net waste, not Western consumer products disposed of in managed landfills. The "great garbage patch" is also very much overstating the scale of the problem; it's a slightly higher plastic density region of ocean.
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#104Is this the "John Graham-Cumming", ex-CTO of cloudflare?
yes! F9 on his website links to this very blog
https://jgc.org/
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why though? Bottles/cans are easily recycled and I believe the small reimbursement is easily recovered during the recycling costs. It's not profitable to recycle small electronic devices otherwise you'd see heaps of shops doing it. It's toxic, hazardous and labour intensive. 100 times the deposit amount would be like $5-10 USD per-device which is insane. I do agree that any retailers should be required to take back e…
> It's not profitable to recycle small electronic devices otherwise you'd see heaps of shops doing it. It's toxic, hazardous and labour intensive. Sounds like they should be banning their sale and/or production then, just like many jurisdictions have been with plastics and other non-recyclable items. These devices are not an essential-to-life item where the waste produced is justifiable, especially when you consider…
> Why single-use disposable vaping devices exist in the first place is somewhat perplexing given permanent/re-fillable ones are also available
I suspect you could make the same argument for manufactured cigarettes vs pipe tobacco. It seems people will pay for convenience.
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reason disposables are so popular in the US is the FDA banned any flavored cartridges, which doesn't include disposables. The immense battery waste is a direct result of a relatively new law.
Good intentions and lack of foresight often combine poorly.
The fault lies with vape manufacturers. It’s big tobacco. They are soulless ghouls.
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
If alcohol came inside of little battery powered computers, we should ban those too. I don't think the post you're responding to is saying that vapes should be banned. Just disposable ones.
> If alcohol came inside of little battery powered computers, we should ban those too. I too am agnostic but do not understand this reasoning. BTW let me get severely downvoted by saying that if alcohol prohibition came up for a vote I'd vote yes in a heartbeat.
We're not talking about alcohol or tobacco prohibition. We're talking about single use e-waste prohibition.
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#108The ESP32 (with Bluetooth and WiFi) is like $5 on AMZN. Which is probably sub-$2 in any meaningful quantity in Shenzhen. We've been living, at least until the tariffs, in a StarTrek like world where whatever we want is available from Shenzhen for a ridiculously low price (which in many respects is better than "free" because "free" brings with it its own humongous problems).
$5 is very expensive in the microcontroller world.
Which 10 Cent Microcontroller is Right for You? Comparing the CH32V003 to the PY32F002A.
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#109I've just started a Salvage Pile in my workshop. Laser printer with fax modem was the first for excision and harvest. I could feel the addiction take hold before the last of the plastic shell was tossed into the refuse bin. The stepper motors alone! I have a huge old microwave on the blocks next. After that a series of small odd ball electronic toys and a few early LED bulbs. If I ever come across a vape, I'm sure it…
With regards to the microwave, here’s a token “please safely discharge and double check the cap” comment! With regards to vapes, just look on the ground near a sidewalk. I find like 3 or 4 big depleted vapes a day in a US urban area. Closer to 15 or 20 in greater London in the UK.
> Closer to 15 or 20 in greater London in the UK.
Weren't disposable vapes banned in UK in May 2025? Is the problem still that big?
Re: There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like they didnt ban it properly. There aren't really nicotine junkies like heroin. So I suspect ban nicotine and slowly everyone stops using nicotine sources.
There were two countries in the 20th century which tried to ban alcohol. Both had a.. very lasting consequences. You can't "just ban" it or "ban it properly". You would get a very nasty black market and things with such ban.
New Zealand was making really good progress on getting down the smoking rate with a variety of measures (primarily ramping the tax).
The current government has started rolling back decades of progress, and SURPRISE, they have close ties to the tobacco industry including MPs who worked for tobacco companies.