Design Life-Cycle

TaShun Blanchard

Professor Christina Cogdell

Energy, Materials, and Design Across Time

September 20th, 2024

Raw Materials in the Life Cycle of Electronic Dildos

According to Business wire, a company founded in 1961 and used as a trusted source for journalists and investment professionals, the sex-toy industry is expected to create a 62.32 billion dollar market by 2030. With the taboos around sex-toys dissipating amongst new generations such as millennials and gen z, we are seeing a massive spike in sex-toy usage amongst men, women, and couples. A 2024 graph created by Statista shows that the number of Americans who own sex-toys has increased by 28 million since 2017, with around 4 million toys being sold each year. Of that large amount, 22.7% of sex-toy sales are attributed to electronic dildos, they are amongst the biggest products in the industry. An electronic dildo, usually made of silicon or elastomer, is a battery powered device that vibrates, twists, turns, and pulsates in order to provide the user with more pleasure than a regular dildo, some even play music if you are feeling fancy. With this product being sold at such high and increasing numbers, we have to do our due diligence and look into exactly what it takes to create such a product. By examining the raw materials that go into producing an electronic dildo, as well as the journey of these raw materials throughout the dildos 6 step life cycle, we will be able to see how this product used for the pleasure of humans is creating stress for the environment. 

An intense amount of focus will be placed on the raw materials that the electronic dildo is made of, tracing these materials from the product all the way back into the natural sources that they come from. This is also seen as the first step in the life cycle. To begin, what are the materials? While conducting my research I decided to look up the three most popular sex toy brands, those three brands were Doc Johnson, BMS factory, and Lovehoney group limited. I visited the websites of all three of these companies and viewed 5 electronic dildos from each website in order to see what materials are listed for the consumer to see. In doing so I found that only 2 materials are listed for each of these items, silicone and ABS plastic, so let's start by breaking down these 2 materials that the average consumer would be privy to. Also known as polysiloxane, silicone is a synthetic material made up of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and silicon. The main ingredient of silicone is silicon. Silicon is extracted from the chemical silica which is often found in nature in quartz or sand. The organization U.S. Geology Survey, states that samples are taken from quartz-rich rock and sand inorder to find deposits that are rich in silica so that it can be mined. The most common way of mining silica is open-pit mining which involves clearing the top layer of any vegetation and then using heavy equipment such as bulldozers and excavators to extract the material. After being mined, silica is heated alongside carbon, which normally means coal, at around 1800℃ in order to get rid of the oxygen in the chemical compound and leave behind pure silicon. The silicon is then heated at high temperatures again alongside a chemical called methyl chloride. Methyl chloride is a clear colorless gas and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it does occur in the natural environment in places like the ocean, through marine phytoplankton, and due to disasters such as forest fires. However these are at low levels, the high levels of methyl chloride are created by chemical plants and it is mainly used in the creation of silicones. Silicon and methyl chloride together create methyltrichlorosilane, which is then infused with water and polymerized, which is the process of small molecules forming together to create a large chainlike molecule, to create the final product of silicone. Polymerization is a good process to know as our next material, ABS plastic, undergoes this action as well. ABS’s full legal name is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and it is a thermoplastic polymer that is created by polymerizing the 3 monomer components that it is named after. Inorder to accurately determine where this substance derives from we must break down those 3 components. Acrylonitrile is a clear liquid produced by taking a mixture of propylene, ammonia, and oxygen and heating the concoction at 500℃ inducing the chemical reaction that creates acrylonitrile. The elements propylene and ammonia can be found in nature, propylene found in crude oil and ammonia found in animal waste, however both are created synthetically for industrial use. Overall it seems that acrylonitrile is completely synthetic and is even made of synthetic components.  It does not occur naturally in the environment and is considered toxic so any release of this product into the world has to be carefully controlled. Butadiene is a colorless gas that it found is found in nature in volcanic eruptions, forest fires, and plant emissions. Due to the element being produced in such small amounts in nature it has to be synthetically made for industrial products. While butadiene itself is mostly man made, its ingredients of naphtha and ethane can both be found and extracted from crude oil. Crude oil is liquid fossil fuel that has been naturally created over the course of millions of  years. It is extracted from the earth by drilling wells into the earth's surface to access the deposits of oil. The mining and use of crude oil can cause water and air pollution as well as oil spills. The last element of ABS, styrene, is a clear and oily liquid that naturally occurs in some foods and plants, such as coffee beans and cinnamon, in very small quantities. Like butadiene, because styrene is found in such small quantities in nature it has to be synthetically produced for industrial use, such as creating ABS plastic. In order to mass produce this chemical, large amounts of petroleum are collected in order to extract  an element called ethylbenzene. After ethylbenzene is extracted it is superheated in order to create styrene. So in this instance styrene can only be produced by the extraction of petroleum. Petroleum is a fossil fuel made specifically from the fossils of marine animals and it is created over millions of years of pressure and heat. In order to mine this fuel, land and ocean drills are built and used to open up the earth's surface or the sea floor for the extraction of the substance. Petroleum is the most important energy source on the planet, however, petroleum is also a huge contributor to global warming due to the carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere when it is burned. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 74% of all air pollution comes from the burning of fossil fuels. So, while at first glance it appeared that ABS plastic was a completely synthetic material, upon a deep dive we can see how even synthetic materials have a chemical foundation that can be traced right back into the crust of our planet. For these two materials in particular their starting points are in grains of sand and quartz rock, as well as fossil fuels, all which first must be mined from the earth. And remember these are just the materials that the consumer can see labeled upon purchase of the product, so what materials are in electronic dildos that we are not readily aware of? In order to figure this out I decided to give Doc Johnson (one of the brands mentioned at the top of the paragraph) a call to see what information their customer service would be able to relay. I chose Doc Johnson because they were the only company that had a production factory here in california. While on the phone with the customer service rep who’s name was Macy, she was able to let me know that the company uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Upon further inquiry from myself about other material used for the mechanics she stated that she was unsure. I decided that instead of calling customer service I would try and call the factory in california directly, however, that proved to be a failure as I could not track down a listed number. While my journalistic efforts were not exactly an outstanding success, I was able to find from my online research that the most common materials used in the mechanics of electronic dildos are aluminum and copper. Along with lithium-ion batteries we now have 3 materials that are contributing to the inner workings of electronic dildos, let's break them down. Aluminum is a nonmagnetic metal that is found abundantly within the earth’s surface. In fact it makes up about 8% of the planet's mass. Aluminum is typically mined through the use of excavators, bulldozers, and front-end loaders that remove the top layer of soil and rock to collect the material. I think it is important to note that aluminum can be found extremely close to the surface, and because of this mining sites are often able to refill the land and re-grow the vegetation. Copper is a metal known for its amazing electrical conductivity abilities and it can be found naturally in the crust of the earth. Copper is a bit further in the surface than aluminum is so in order to extract it miners have to use underground mining methods. For copper specifically, large underground rooms are created into the rock that holds the copper, leaving pillars of the material untouched in order to supply support for the room so that it does not cave in. Both the metals used in electronic dildos are naturally sourced and one of its mining methods even allows for the land to be re-planted. I am pleased to see that these raw materials do not follow the same pattern of harmful pollution that the others do. Yet, I have a feeling that we won’t be able to give the same praise to our next material, lithium-ion batteries. In my research, I found that lithium-ion batteries truly deserve an essay all to themselves but I am going to try and break it down to its rawest materials. In order to create this battery metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and iron must first be mined. All four of these metals are mined using open-pit or underground mining methods that we have covered with earlier materials. Although, I did find it interesting that cobalt is actually a byproduct of copper mining, and 60% of the world's cobalt comes from the Dominican Republic of Congo in Africa. The congo is facing a significant humanitarian crisis because of the mining of this specific material that is causing death for many of its people. Overall, the raw materials needed to simply create an electronic dildo are connected to mining procedures, such as drilling and the clearing of vegetation for surface and underground excavation, and resource burning, such as crude oil and petroleum, that due have major effects on the environment. This is just the beginning of the life-cycle for this product, in the exploration of the next steps in its journey we will see how other raw materials are needed for things like manufacturing and distribution. 

The manufacturing and distribution of electronic dildos does introduce some new materials that should be considered in the life cycle of the product. Manufacturing is the second stage in the life cycle of a product, for dildos the manufacturing process introduces pigments into the silicone mix in order to achieve the desired color. These pigments are titanium dioxide and iron dioxide, they are used because they are non-toxic and safe for products that interact directly with the human body. Titanium dioxide is found in nature mostly in a mineral called rutile which is found abundantly in sediments, sands, and metamorphic rocks. Rutile is mined mostly from sand on beaches and riverbeds using a process called dredging. Dredging is a specific mining technique for material that is underwater, it uses a dredger, which is a floating vessel that can excavate sand, to collect the mineral. This process can affect the water quality and marine life of the area it is being used in. Iron dioxide is not a common naturally occurring material, it is mainly created in labs by adding oxygen to an iron oxide ore. These ores are found in the earth's crust and are mined using open-pit mining and underground mining, processes we have discussed previously. While the mining causes its own environmental issues, the separation of iron oxide from the impurities of the rocks creates a whole new byproduct of waste that has to be dealt with. After these pigments are excavated from the beaches and crust of our planet they are added into the dildo, the silicone dildo is then molded using a silicone mold before the lithium-ion battery is added in and it is ready to enter the third stage of its life cycle, distribution. During the distribution of this product, the main raw material being used is gas, also known as fossil fuels, a topic we have covered in the earlier part of this essay. While we have covered fossil fuels already, I do think it is important to point out that an article posted by Stanford University called “Fast Facts About Energy for Transportation” pointed out that transportation is responsible for 15% of all greenhouse emissions. After being manufactured with the addition of pigment, transported with the use of gasoline, we will explore if any raw materials are used once the product reaches the consumer and eventually ends up in the trash. 

Maintenance, recycling, and waste management are the final 3 steps in the life cycle and can still require the use of raw materials. Use, re-use, and maintenance are a part of the 4th step in the life cycle, for electronic dildos in particular, a product that can be used more than once, soap and water as well as lubrication are necessary products to use along with the product. Soap and water are used for the cleaning of the silicone in order to maintain hygiene. Lubrication is normally used with the product in order to make the use more pleasurable. The most commonly used lubricants are water-based. With the washing  of the dildo, and the use of lubricant it seems to be that water is the most important raw material in the 4th step of the life cycle. When it comes to recycling, the 5th step of the cycle, there are no new raw materials to be introduced. Silicon can be recycled by simpleting melting it back down and adding in a bit of unused silicone. The same is true for the ABS plastic components, they can simply be melted and remolded for new projects. When electronic dildos make it to the landfill, the 6th step in the life cycle, they are simply thrown into the same pile that all other common waste goes into. They do not receive any special waste procedures and new raw materials are not needed in the process. I thought this was interesting due to the use of their lithium-ion batteries. These kinds of batteries are normally highly regulated in landfills due to their ability to combust. Upon further research I found that there are specialized recycling facilities for these batteries and that they do introduce new raw materials in the form of chemicals that are used to discharge and break down the batteries. However, it would be up to the consumer to make sure that the battery ends up in that center because there is no evidence that electronic dildos are sorted and taken apart in order to retrieve these batteries. Overall, the final 3 steps in the life cycle do introduce materials such as water and lubricant, and if disposed of correctly new raw materials will be needed to break down lithium-ion batteries, it is not nearly as many materials that were needed in the first half of the process but that is to be expect. 

In conclusion, this product, manufactured and used for the pleasure of humans, finds its roots in the crust of the earth, the sand on our beaches, and the rocks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, excavated using mining techniques that negatively impact our environment. It relies on the creation of Silicone and ABS plastic, which while both are able to be recycled they can not naturally decompose and very few people actually take the time to take apart their electronic dildos in order to make sure these materials make it into the right recycling centers. With the use of lithium-ion batteries it makes this product a danger in landfills and yet there is no regulation on the electronic dildos that are thrown away. What I have realized during the length of my research is that the sex toy business is a growing industry and we will probably not see change in how the materials are excavated from the earth and the damage that it causes. However, we as consumers can do our part when it comes down to throwing them away by taking the time to separate the materials and send them to the correct recycling centers so they can be reused. If we are going to turn raw materials into non-composing products the least we could do is recycle them as much as possible.

Bibliography: 

Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). "Silicon." Periodic Table, https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/14/silicon. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.

Takeaway Packaging. "Is Silicone an Eco-Friendly Material?" Takeaway Packaging, https://takeawaypackaging.co.uk/silicone-eco-friendly-material/?srsltid=AfmBOopdPXvdV-S5VGv2pE_ApE9UN0zSbqPqwyuTb84kQ-GyJJO93ywI. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

GreenMatch. "Is Silicone Bad for the Environment?" GreenMatch, https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/is-silicone-bad-for-the-environment#:~:text=Silicone's%20production%20is%20not%20environmentally,energy%2C%20often%20from%20fossil%20fuels. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Silica." Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/substances/ToxSubstance.aspx?toxid=290#:~:text=Summary%3A%20Silica%20is%20another%20name,but%20have%20different%20atom%20arrangements. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.

United States Geological Survey (USGS). "Silica Statistics and Information." National Minerals Information Center, https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/silica-statistics-and-information#:~:text=The%20specifications%20for%20each%20use,methods%20with%20standard%20mining%20equipment. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.

National Ocean Service (NOAA). "What Is Dredging?" NOAA, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/dredging.html. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Stanford University. "Energy Transportation." Stanford Understand Energy, https://understand-energy.stanford.edu/energy-services/energy-transportation. Accessed 18 Sept. 2024.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Public Health Statement for Nickel." Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/PHS/PHS.aspx?phsid=419&toxid=74. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Vogt, Christine, et al. "Dredged Marine Sediments as a Sustainable Resource for the Construction Industry." Environments, vol. 4, no. 3, 2017, p. 66, https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/4/3/66. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Yuan, Tianjiao, et al. "Electrolyte Engineering with Alkali Metal Salts for Lithium Metal Batteries." ACS Energy Letters, vol. 7, no. 1, 2022, pp. 62-70, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsenergylett.1c02602#. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Mohanty, Amal, et al. "Green Solvents and Technologies for Oil Extraction from Oilseeds." Green Chemistry, vol. 22, no. 4, 2020, pp. 1082-1095, https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2020/gc/d0gc02745f. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Spagnolo, Angelo, et al. "The Environmental Impact of Dredging in the Mediterranean Sea." Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 52, no. 8, 2006, pp. 847-858, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X06003778. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Refinery29. "Inside the Dildo Factory: How Your Sex Toys Are Made." Refinery29, https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/sex-toys-dildo-factory-video. Accessed 12 Sept. 2024.

Doc Johnson. "I-Vibe™ Select - I-Come - Pink." Doc Johnson, https://docjohnson.com/ivibetm-select-icome-pink.html. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

Business Wire. "Sex Toys Market Analysis Report 2022: A $62.32 Billion Market by 2030 - ResearchAndMarkets.com." Business Wire, 25 May 2022, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220525005765/en/Sex-Toys-Market-Analysis-Report-2022-A-62.32-Billion-Market-by-2030---ResearchAndMarkets.com. Accessed 12 Sept. 2024.

Statista. "Number of People Who Own Sex Toys in the U.S. from 2020 to 2022." Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1116009/number-of-people-who-own-sex-toys-in-the-us/. Accessed 12 Sept. 2024.

BMS Factory. "PalmPower Recharge Massage Wand – Blue." BMS Factory, https://www.bmsfactory.com/instructions/palmpower-recharge-massage-wand-blue-p371.aspx. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

Lovehoney. "BASICS Classic Realistic Dildo Vibrator 6.5 Inch." Lovehoney, https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/sex-toys/vibrators/dildo-vibrators/p/basics-classic-realistic-dildo-vibrator-6.5-inch/a39583g72576.html. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

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Mueller Corp. "ABS Plastic and How We Use It." Mueller Corp, https://muellercorp.com/abs-plastic-and-how-we-use-it/. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

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* Energy Missing *

 Jonathan Lopez-Pineda

Professor Christina Cogdell

Energy, Materials, & Design Across Time

March 16th, 2023

Waste in the Production of Dildos

Sex toys have been around as early as 28,000 years ago seen first in the form of stone and dried camels. Though, with time, the creation and use of dildos have advanced. Now, they are often made with little regulations and are made from plastics, silicone, and other materials that can be harmful towards the environment. This leads to pollution and leads to hurting our environment more than it already is. Sex toys are one of the many ways adults choose to pleasure themselves. Both women and men participate in this activity. With the power of social media and influencers, sexy toys have become more common, normalized, and accepted among society. However, this can have harmful effects on the environment. Dildo production and use leads to waste and improper disposal of these products. Oftentimes, when people have finished using their dildos, they throw them away to avoid recycling considering the sanitation of the product. Sex toy pollution, specifically electronic dildos, are creating a dent into the environment when they are created with harmful waste products. The creation of dildos ends in the use of silicone, copper, elastomer, water, paint, plastic packaging. If we understand alternative ways to dispose of dildos and create more environmentally friendly based dildos, then we can continue to embrace the practice of self pleasure using sex toys while keeping the environment clean.

Dildos are oftentimes made from plastic materials. Considering the golden rule that anything plastic is a risk for our environment, the materials used for dildos create an issue. In fact, during the production to create the plastic material for dildos, carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels pose a great risk to our planet, they contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and lead to impactful effects such as climate change. In addition, it adds to pollution in the air. Then, once the dildo is thrown away, the plastic material goes back into the environment adding onto the build up of plastic waste in landfills. A waste material that is seen in the plastic materials of dildos is petroleum. Not only is this bad for our planet, it can also be harmful towards our bodies. Rubber can also be difficult to sterilize and becomes a biohazard making it difficult to recycle. In addition, the plastics from the dildos may not be biodegradable, taking years past one's lifetime for it to fully degrade. The overall consequences of this waste is met by the health and quality of our ecosystems. 

Plastic waste is not the only waste issue seen in the production of dildos. Chemical waste arises as well. One is known as phthalates, this is a key toxin in the creation of dildos. Since dildos are made soft to create a pleasurable and realistic experience, phthalates are added to the plastic which helps create this soft effect. There is little regulation that goes into the creation of dildos. Though the electronic components are masked with requirements and regulations that must be followed, the outer shell and mold of the dildo is often left without much consideration to what harm certain materials can have on our bodies and our environment. Considering the use of phthalates in dildos, companies do not have a care for the effects that lead on after disposal of dildos. For example, when the chemical, phthalates, is not regulated, it can harm the soil or water of the environment. This is something overlooked in the production of dildos, the goal for many companies is to produce as many as they can. This is a 15 billion dollar industry which needs to be met every year. 

In order to create dildos and meet the demands of humans all over the world, manufacturing of this product is a challenge that is met with many difficulties in the sustainability department. Creating these dildos in factories tends to use up a lot of energy. As with most factories, energy which is being used for production is often from non-renewable sources. The final steps of creating a dildo usually lead with the packaging. This is often where most of the waste is seen. There is an abundance of waste within the plastic packaging exceeding the size and shape of the product. In addition, there is the shipment packaging that is required in order to transport the products to customers and stores. When the materials used to ship and package the dildos are not recycled or disposed of properly, an increased risk of carbon emissions are added to the overall process of producing a dildo. 

Recycling a dildo is really hard. Companies leave this task up to the customer without offering much help. When the customer is uninformed about the ways to recycle a product they purchase, they will just throw it away. In America, recycling a dildo compared to other plastic products seems almost impossible. There may be some luck for customers of stainless steel dildos, but the majority of the dildos in the market are made of plastic. Though, there is still hope! Most modern dildos usually come with electronic components. This is something that can be recycled. Though, considering the thickness of the materials and how the dildos are manufactured, retrieving the electronic components may seem like an almost impossible task. Due to this, most of the motors in the dildos are thrown away, creating more waste for materials that could have been reused for new toys. 

Companies are often the ones to blame for the issue of dildo disposal. In America, there is no initiative to recycle dildos and other sex toys alike when they are done being used. Shame may be another indicator for people not wanting to recycle their dildos and repurpose them in a public way. However, dildos must be recycled in order to create a sustainable future. Consumers are able to make the environmentally conscious choice to support dildos made from environmentally friendly materials that are safe for their body and the planet. In addition, investing in dildos of high quality that are meant to last longer will help reduce the need to throw away your dildo and purchase a new one. In hopes that consumers take these actions into consideration, companies may begin to take on an initiative of their own to reduce their impact on the environment.

Nonetheless, there have already been initiatives to reduce the waste of dildos and their materials in the environment. Dildos are made of many types produced in many different forms of materials such as rubber. Rubber, which is hard to sterilize and can also be hazardous and unsanitary to reuse. Though, with vibrating dildos, there are electronic counterparts that can be reused! Thanks to “Come As You Are” a sex shop based in Canada, we are able to see a more foreseeable future with sex toys impacting less on environmental issues. They have created the first recycling program for dildos in Canada. Though not seen in parts of America, there is hope for the future of dildos after all. There are also companies that have been inspired by the movement for sustainability. According to the company “We-Vibe” they have taken the initiative to create longer lasting sex toys. In fact, they have introduced a rechargeable feature to their products. With this, they hope that more of their consumers will learn to appreciate their dildo and reuse it multiple times rather than having to purchase a new one. “Come As You Are” has been one of the only companies that has launched a recycling program for sex toys. Though, given the results they have had, more companies may soon be able to initiate a similar program. This may be seen as cost effective for companies introducing vibrating motors into their products as they will be able to reuse those motors for their new products and not only save money but also the planet.

Dildos are enjoyable for many and will continue to be a popular item to use for sexual pleasure. The industry is worth 15 billion dollars a year and is expected to increase every year. The popularity of dildos brings an environmental concern of whether they are being disposed of properly and if they are being created with safe materials that avoid waste. In order to combat these issues, many of the consumers must make a conscious effort to either recycle their dildos or engage in buying long lasting dildos. To prevent waste of plastic and harmful chemicals, consumers are able to purchase glass dildos and stainless steel dildos. It must also be said that companies who make these dildos should also be held accountable for the effort they have made to create a sustainable industry of sex toys. Using harmful materials in the production of diloss leads to waste in the environment that can have leading impacts of climate change and carbon emissions. The solutions have already been found by companies in other countries such as Canada. Though, the efforts to follow in those footsteps of sustainability and recycling have not been seen in companies here in America. There are required actions that are unmet in the industry in order to prevent more waste. Sustainability has been overlooked and the environment is facing the consequences. When sex toys are not recycled they are filling up landfills. This leads to the degradation of our planet and poses a risk for ecosystems and humans alike. Moving forward, companies should use biodegradable materials for their dildo production. In addition, they should create healthier disposal practices that encourage consumers to recycle their dildos. When people are more informed on the ways to recycle their dildos, a decrease in pollution and harmful environmental impacts can be seen for the future of dildos and sex toys overall. 

Bibliography

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