One Redditor recently made a post on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit that highlighted the downsides of both vaping and littering. "Vaping IS bad for you," they wrote along with a photo of their car tire that had been fully punctured by a disposable vape.
Car (and bike) tires being punctured by improperly disposed vape cartridges is a much more common phenomenon than you might think. At least half a dozen such instances have been posted on various subreddits, indicating that the actual number of vape-related flats is likely much higher.
Plastic pollution in general is a big problem for our planet, with so much of it ending up in the oceans, where it kills marine life; in other parts of nature; or, often as a best-case scenario, taking up space in landfills.
Disposable vape cartridges are even worse than most other forms of plastic pollution, as they contain harmful pollutants, including heavy metals such as lead and mercury, nicotine salts, and flammable battery components.
Vapes are harmful even before they end up getting littered — despite being marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes, the vapor inhaled from them contains toxic chemicals such as acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde, according to the American Lung Association. Even worse, these products are being marketed directly to children.
Several organizations are calling for tighter regulations, or even outright bans, on the advertising and sale of disposable vapes, including the World Health Organization, which called for a ban on flavored vapes, and the Local Government Association in England and Wales.
"Disposable vapes are fundamentally flawed in their design and inherently unsustainable products, meaning an outright ban will prove more effective than attempts to recycle more vapes," said Councillor David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association's Community Wellbeing Board.
"Can that be plugged? It's a big hole for sure," one Reddit commenter asked, referring to the hole in the tire the vape cartridge had created.
"Can't be plugged...$250 for a new tire...ugh," the original poster followed up.
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