Opinion: Vaping is a prevalent habit. But in recent months, the ugly side of vape production has been unearthed, and that may have detrimental effects on the vape industry
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If you’ve been on social media in the past few months, the chances of you hearing about the Congo are very high. Maybe you’ve heard about the “modern-day slavery” of the lithium mines in the Congo, the child labor and the abuses of power, all for the sake of harvesting lithium, an element used in so many things.
One usage of lithium is found within vapes. Both disposable and reusable vapes contain lithium within the batteries.
Over the last few years, different companies have made it their mission to antiquate the practice of Gen Z vaping. Programs like the TRUTH campaign tried and failed to eradicate vaping. It seemed as though Gen Z would never quit. Trying to make vaping “uncool” was seemingly never going to work.
Our generation doesn’t appear to care about the harm vapes do, at least not to ourselves.
But one thing that Gen Z does seem to care about is others. So, when people began to notice that children were being forced to risk their lives for the sake of lithium –– and for the sake of vapes –– a debate began.
The debate was questioning how humane it is for people to be continuing a practice that is killing children. Especially when it’s such a bad habit. For the first time, Gen Z has begun to stop vaping. But will it last?
In recent months geologists have found between 20 and 40 million metric tons of lithium on the Nevada-Oregon border. This is the largest amount of lithium recorded ever.
So what does this mean?
For starters, it means that the Congo may not be the place we are getting all of our lithium in the near future. But more than that, this means that lithium being used in batteries may not be a result of child labor and could potentially be a humane harvesting process.
With that in mind, will Gen Z stick to the trend of giving up vapes? Or will the lack of abuse while harvesting lithium lead to a mass return? Or will other implications and stigmas about vapes lead so a permanent withdrawal?
There have been efforts by three different Indigenous tribes to halt production of the lithium mines on the border, but those pleas have been denied by a judge, and production has already begun despite the harvesting being next to the sacred site of a massacre that occurred in 1865 in Thacker Pass or Peehee Mu’huh in the Paiute language.
Now that we know the mine is not only under construction but will be finished as soon as possible, will this be the event that stops teen vaping? Or will the implication that vapes are a direct result of slavery and historic indigenous massacres be enough to dissuade the masses?
The other thing Gen Z seems to be very conscious of is the way their image is perceived, and now that the connection has been drawn between child slavery and vapes there may be a stigma surrounding casual vaping. Another one may be drawn now that a sacred site has been destroyed for the sake of a mine.
It seems that only time will tell whether or not the implication of vapes being a direct result of slavery is enough to subdue the addictions of so many. But this realization about the harm they cause to other people is one of the first big steps in the right direction.