Vaping and Your Responsibilities

Tobacco cigarette smokers have, in a number of ways, seemed to have gained a rather unsavoury reputation, or rather the habit itself has. There are many reason for this, some coming down to the health implications of being a smoker, others being connected to unsociable behaviour such as cigarette butt littering.

While of course is it wrong to “tar” all smokers with the same brush it does happen. While vapers have may advantages over tobacco smokers with regards to what is considered socially-acceptable behaviour this doesn’t mean that we can afford to be irresponsible when vaping, otherwise public perception could very well turn which would have a negative effect on how vapers are perceived. That said use e smokers also need to smoke responsibly because it is the grown up and “right thing to do”.

If you want to know how to be on your best behaviour when vaping in order to avoid personal hassle and to avoid annoying others while painting a poor picture of vaping altogether, keep reading.

Why is Conscious Vaping Important?

Conscious vaping basically means being aware of what you’re doing, where you’re doing it and the effect it may have on others. You might be well aware of the difference between the vapour released when vaping and cigarette smoke however not many do, and why should they? It is our responsibility as vapers to show others that vaping is indeed different to cigarette smoking and preferable in so many ways.

Why should we care what people say? Public opinion and perception goes a long way towards important decision-making when it comes to the powers that be clamping down on where we can vape amongst other things.

Right now we have a pretty good time of it, especially in terms of vaping not being banned in many of the places that cigarette smoking is and conscious vaping will go a long way to preserving that.

Choose Your Venue Wisely

Cigarette smoking is pretty much banned everywhere, including open-air structures such as stadiums and railway stations. Vaping however is not. While there are definitely rules about cigarette smoke indoors with vaping it is very much down to the discretion of whomever owns or is in charge of an area.
Hospital, doctor surgeries, large branded cafes and restaurants were amongst the first to put restrictions up on vaping and more will follow.

As a vaper it is your responsibility to make sure you get permission to start vaping in an enclosed space before you do. This is plain good manners.

When outside generally speaking no ban or restriction is in place however again how you choose to vape around others should be something you do with conscious thought to their feelings with a nod to common sense and politeness.

If you are on the street vape away, just don’t blow clouds of rhubarb and custard vapour into the faces of those passing by. If in a queue, waiting for a bus or any of the usual places you could vape again be considerate. Ask those nearby if they mind, blow vapour away from them or move off to one side. Similarly, vaping in a car is not necessarily a great idea. If your e liquid offers you a perfectly thick and full flavoursome vapour, great, unless of course there are others in the car and particularly if it could impede the driver’s visibility. Think twice with this one.

Not being considerate about where you choose to vape will once again give us e smokers a bad name and when this happens more restrictions start popping up which will then legally limit where we may enjoy our smoking pastime.

Discretion When Vaping

Should you have to hide the fact that you enjoy a vape? No! Should you be discreet when it’s called for? Yes! Smoking in the workplace is by and large a no-no, regardless of whether you vape or smoke tobacco cigarettes. Some employers are happy for you to go outside somewhere during your breaks but be discreet as they don’t need to give you permission to do this.

Make sure you move to a less populated area and away from customers / service users, non-smokers and non-vapers enjoying their lunch (etc) so that you may enjoy your e smoke without making it a big issue. After all, you don’t need to wear an “I am a Vaper” sign, just enjoy it and of course do your best to keep your employers on board so that you may continue to take vape breaks without any hardship.

As smoking of any type, which certainly includes vaping, is for adults only (eighteen years and above) it should not be made to look clever, glamourous or special to those who are underage. Other people may also have opinions about you vaping near their children for a variety of reasons. The general rule of thinking for vaping around children is to not vape around children. It isn’t ok for those who still enjoy tobacco cigarettes to do it and so when it comes to e smokers being discreet around minors is again the socially responsible thing to do.

Share the Love

We’ve talked about being responsible, being discreet and respecting other people’s opinions and their wish for distance from vapour clouds. What we haven’t touch on yet is that you have a responsibility as a vaper to share the love! There are a lot of people out there who don’t understand what vaping is, why it is different (and better) than tobacco smoking and you have the ideal opportunity here to educate them. If someone asks, fill them in, share your experiences with non-smokers, smokers and other vapers as at the end of the day the more people know about vaping and accept it as a positive thing the better life will be for us already enlightened e smokers.

Take Care of Your Kit

You have complete control over your own vaping kit and as such you need to remember that the nicotine containing e liquids are toxic to children and pets (to the point of possibly being fatal if ingested) and besides, children should not be playing with smoking paraphernalia! Keep your kit safe and away from others and make sure you discard any associated rubbish, i.e. e liquid bottles properly. Littering issues related to cigarette smoking is a big big-bear for many so let’s make sure people see that there isn’t an issue with us environmentally friendly vapers.

Vaping is a relatively new phenomenon, despite it having become very popular, very quickly! Already there are both positive and negative associations connected to it and how we, as a collective of vapers act when vaping will go a long way to encouraging positive impressions and a side-effect of that will be the continued freedom that we as e smokers currently enjoy as opposed to the many restrictions tobacco smokers face. Besides this, being a responsible vaper is quite simply the right way to be!