Talking About Green

We know how smoking affects our bodies and our health, but what few people are aware of are the effects on the environment that those little white sticks have.

In one tobacco cigarette there can be 4,000 chemicals released into the environment. Many of these have been proven to be carcinogenic and cause untold damage to the world around us.

Environmental Costs

Firstly there is the effect of cigarette butts thrown onto the ground, which pollute waterways and cause the deaths of thousands of fish a year when the unintentionally eat them. Then of course there is the risk of forest fire created by carelessly-tossed butts which haven’t been stubbed out properly.

This is just the natural environment; there is also the urban environment to consider. Smoke causes unsightly yellowed fingers and teeth, the lingering stench of smoke hovering around, a unique nicotine-yellow finish on every surface and of course, the dreaded ‘fag breath’.

The cost of producing tobacco cigarettes for the 1.25 billion people who smoke worldwide is particularly harmful on the environment. Producing 300 tobacco cigarettes requires four miles of paper, equivalent to one tree for every 15 packs of 20. The average UK smoker smokes more than 5,000 cigarettes a year, meaning they each puff away 250 trees per year.

What’s the alternative?

It’s not all bad though, because electronic cigarettes have arrived to save the day! e-cigarette works by using simple conversion of nicotine liquid into vapour by heating it using the ‘e-tip’. It produces a vapour that is designed to deliver the perfect smoke with the exact dose of nicotine.  One E-tip produces enough nicotine to be the equivalent of 40 cigarettes.

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Because they only produce a harmless, odourless vapour they are completely safe for the environment. They don’t cause unsightly yellow walls or extremities, they don’t pollute the atmosphere and all the trees remain safe.

E-Cigs Are Cleaner
Electronic cigarettes are much cleaner than regular tobacco. The nicotine in an e-cig cartridge is vaporized, which means no second hand smoke to annoy or harm nearby people, no burnt tobacco smell sticking to one’s clothes, and no more yellow teeth and fingers. This means less stigma associated with the habit and enables smokers to partake in places that normally do not allow smoking.

E-Cigs Are Better for Businesses
With the rampant ban on cigarette smoking that is everywhere nowadays, businesses that normally cater to a smoking crowd, such as bars and nightclubs, are able to allow people to smoke without breaking the law. These businesses have suffered from the restrictions as smokers choose to enjoy themselves at places that offer outdoor seating, smoking rooms, or other accommodations. Productivity in jobs such as office work have the potential to increase as well, since smokers will no longer need to take a lengthy walk to enjoy a smoke break.

E-Cigs Are Healthier

E-Cigs Help the Environment
Cigarette butts pile up in street gutters, get swept away into the water system, and sit around in landfills. Averaging a pack a day, 365 days a year, the nearly 40 million smokers in the US alone leave behind billions of butts. Add to that non-biodegradable plastic lighters and tree-consuming matchbooks and the trash really begins to pile up. With e-cigs, all this refuse is no longer needed due to the vaporizing method.

E-Cigs Are Cheaper
The growing popularity of the Smoker’s HALO electronic cigarette is bringing the costs down rapidly. The initial investment consists of a starter kit, which runs between $30 and $80 on average but can be found many places for free. After that, the cartridges are about $2 per and are the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes. With packs costing as much as $10 each in some places – this can most certainly add up to a lot of savings.

Smokers would do well to at least give e-cigs a try and see if it is the option for them. With so many benefits it is hard to find reasons to not switch over from traditional tobacco smoking.