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.

  • PunnyName@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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.

    • EvilBit@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      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
      • BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

        • acid_falcon@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          … What? I used to smoke a pack a day, now I just vape. I’ve never seen a smoke shop that doesn’t sell juice

          • hex@programming.dev
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            2 months ago

            Different legislation in different places. My country banned flavours, but they still sell disposables somehow.

    • A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      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.