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A Year 12 Whangaparāoa College student wants to spread the word about the environmental impact of single use vape products – most of which she says go into the bin or are discarded on the Coast streets and beaches.
Jenica Crous, aged 16, has a passion for the environment and is researching the subject in her Level 2 Sociology class.
Her interest was sparked by the increase in vape stores around the Coast and a rise in the popularity of single use plastic vape products.
“I want to know what people are doing with their disposable vape products when they’re done with them and I found that majority throw them out.”
She does not vape herself but says a large number of her friends and peers are regular vapers.
“Smoking is much less common among people my age, and much less popular than it was when my parents were my age,” Jenica says. “Vaping is more affordable and accessible than smoking.”
She says vape culture is big and ever-growing in youth, and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
A survey she came across in her research, conducted by the NZ Asthma Foundation, shows that nearly 20 percent of students are vaping daily.
“Many youths only vape at social gatherings. That’s one reason why disposable vapes are so popular, as they don’t do it all the time.”
Jenica wants to make vapers more aware that purchasing refillable vape products, or ones that can be recycled, is a more sustainable option.
She says a study done in 2020 by the USA-based Truth Initiative – a non-profit organisation dedicated to research and projects to reduce smoking, vaping and nicotine use in general – shows that more than half (51 percent) of young e-cigarette users reported disposing of used e-cigarette pods or empty disposables in the rubbish, 17 percent in a recycling bin not designed for e-cigarette waste, and 10 percent reported that they simply throw them on the ground.
“Almost half (49.1 percent) the young people surveyed said they don’t know what to do with used e-cigarette pods and disposable devices, and I would say that number could be higher here,” Jenica says. “Discussions with my neighbours and peers made me realise that a majority have never considered the impact of e-waste. And they had never heard of options to discard their disposable vapes, aside from common household waste bins. When people are uninformed, change can’t happen.”
“My main goal is to inspire people to care about the negative impact of vaping and consider the environment when choosing the vape products they buy. Often people don’t realise the impact of “disposable” products. And in the case of vaping, I feel like a discussion needs to be sparked. I hope that the facts around the issue and the availability of recycling initiatives for these products will make people consider how they dispose of their vapes, and encourage them to choose environmentally conscious alternatives.”
While Jenica’s current focus is awareness, she says it would be good to take the project further.
“It would be great to get local vape shops involved that want to take steps towards being more environmentally conscious.”
She says one current initiative supporting change is Terracycles’ VapeCycle, which recycles some e-cigarette products, free of charge. Terracycle has run the programme since March 2020 and a spokesperson says there has been a very good response from the public. Terracycle takes certain brands of e-cigarettes, disposable vapes, replacement pods and empty e-liquid vape juice bottles. Info: www.terracycle.com
If you have information that could help Jenica with her research, email jenicacrous@gmail.com
