Bright, digital and encased in slick, clear lucite plastic, this disposable single-use vaporizer has only economic reasons to exist as the landfill clogging nightmare it is. Bummer, eh?
How did we get here? It’s cute and it tastes good... Rather than roll over with shit cliches like ‘it is what it is’, I'll poke the issue with a stick - or in my case, a pencil.
The electronics of this slick little unit are fantastic, conveniently, it is rechargeable with the same USB C my iPhone uses. It feels great in the hand. It has a preheat feature which is activated by clicking twice.I like the puffs-remaining readout on the side of the unit. All these plusses make me sad when I realize this is a one-and-done product, destined for the landfill. Boo.
Returning to Neon’s Guava Gelato flavor system - I like the Guava Gelato more than the vast majority of flavored cartridges. Many of the mixed berry flavor directions are hauntingly similar to some distant memories of cleansing products from days of yore. No, I and Iwon’t smoke no Fabuloso, No. Fortunately, Neon doesn’t over-flavor nor overpower this guava gelato cartridge. For some reason, blueberry flavors are particularly prone to overdosing to ill effect.
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Neon’s outer foil packaging.
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But, from any environmental perspective, these disposable vaporizer units are an unmitigated disaster. The amount of disposable, non-recyclable packaging material can not be seriously defended by even the most cynical.
In less than one generation, I've witnessed cannabis devolve here from having virtually no packaging footprint to the current state of affairs. Before legalization, top quality cannabis would be locally or regionally produced wrapped in plastic (often zip lock bags) for transport and sale, after purchase cannabis was often stored in a glass jar or other container. Prior to legalization, long distance transportation from prime yet distant production areas was also a concern. As of 2025, the USA is a patchwork of states with legal cannabis for medical or recreational purposes - and their neighbors.
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Flower sold in bulk remains a significant product category - usually sold by the ounce or 1/8 ounce in glass jars or bags. However, from a product perspective, the real action right now is in all the value added products flooding the markets wherever possible. Bulk flower seems like a placeholder - like the way prisoners buy and sell cans of mackerel or ‘macks’ as currency on the inside. I digress.
Pot doesn’t make you smarter, but it certainly might make your Saturday afternoon a little more giggly. This mountain of garbage we are creating might be the real boogey man lurking under our beds.
Product purchased in May 2025 from Seattle Tonics for $20 [including taxes & discounts]
(C) 2025 Stoner Living Blog.
