As with most things, whether or not e-cigarettes are good for the environment largely depends on you. All electronic devices need to be discarded in a particular way in order to avoid doing harm to the environment, and e-cigs are no different. However, e-cigs pose another disposal difficulty because e-liquids contain nicotine. Batteries and e-liquids need to be disposed of properly to preserve the environment as well as everyone’s safety.

E-cig batteries should never go in the thrash. When they wind up in landfills, the chemicals in the batteries can leak into the water supply. The contaminated water is then used to grow our food, to bathe our children and ourselves, and, worst of all, as our drinking water. Animals drink it too, and animal populations are already endangered enough from our other waste. As animal populations dwindle in an area, the animals that prey on other animals are affected as well. A ripple effect ensues and ends up changing the amount of plants that grow in an area, which can then affect insect and bird populations, which can affect the amount of seeds that get spread, which further affects the number of trees in an area, etc. A small amount of contaminated groundwater can have a large effect on an entire ecosystem, not just on the human population that lives nearby (although the changing ecosystem will certainly affect us as well).

Still, some people may think disposing of batteries properly is too difficult. It’s not. The batteries can often be recycled at local electronics stores. Alternatively, a quick google search ought to yield results of disposal sites in your area. The small amount of effort required to properly dispose of e-cigarette batteries is well worth the damage improper disposal will do to the environment.

E-liquids must also be disposed of and stored carefully. Nicotine overdose is a concern, especially for animals and children who may innocently rummage through the trash. E-liquid should never go down the drain of the sink or be flushed down the toilet. Doing so will cause the e-liquid to get into the ground water and could have similar dangerous consequences to those explained above. Instead, place some cat litter into a plastic bag you can seal. Then, pour the e-liquid into the bag to be absorbed by the litter. Next, seal the bag and place it in the trash. Proper disposal is important to keeping children and pets safe from e-liquids, but so is storage. Always be sure to store e-liquid, as well as any e-cig supplies that may be contaminated with e-liquid, out of the reach of children and pets. Never refer to e-liquid as juice since these terms may confuse children. Also, keep your e-cig in a secure location while you are using it, put it away when you are done using it, and never let children play with it. Responsible vapers will ensure e-liquid stays out of the water supply and inaccessible to children and pets.

Disposing of e-cigarette batteries and e-liquids may take a little extra effort, but will go a long way to preserving our planet, while using common sense around children and pets helps to keep them safe. What you do makes a difference to our environment. It is up to you to decide if that difference will be a positive one. Keep our water supply clean by cleaning up your e-butts.