Exploring how ecosex and digisex might someday coexist

It was a pleasant, sunny day on a palatial piece of property in Marin County, CA. when I joined a workshop to experience Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D., and Beth Stephens, Ph.D., lead us through an afternoon of spiritual and erotic connection with the Earth. For those who don’t know what that means, imagine trees, soil, water, wind, hillsides, and quite possibly bugs. Thankfully, fire was not on the elemental menu that day as California hillsides were and still are  infernos waiting to happen. 

Annie and Beth are well known for a series of lavish, ritualized, art/sex weddings, at least nineteen to date. The first was a 2008 wedding with the Earth itself. Other weddings included Sky, Sea, Moon, the Appalachian Mountains, Snow, Rocks, Coal, Sun, Lake Kallavesi, Fog, a cyber wedding with Brine Shrimp, and in 2022, to Fire. 

Celebrating the “E-spot”

Sprinkle and Stephen’s Ecosex Manifesto describes what it means to be an ecosexual:

WE MAKE LOVE WITH THE EARTH. We are aquaphiles, teraphiles, pyrophiles and aerophiles. We shamelessly hug trees, massage the earth with our feet, and talk erotically to plants. We are skinny dippers, sun worshipers, and stargazers. We caress rocks, are pleasured by waterfalls, and admire the Earth’s curves often. We make love with the Earth through our senses. We celebrate our E-spots. We are very dirty.

As an animist sexologist, I was down with it, though not to the extent Annie and Beth are. But I did help them with the layout of their first Journal of EcoSex Research (2011). I also presented “Toxins Ate My Sex Life” at their June 2012 Ecosex Symposium II at the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco.

As for being “very dirty,” when you get right down to it, who isn’t? 

Just another San Francisco Bay Area sexual revolution

Meanwhile, while some of us were getting it on (probably only ritually) with the most appealing natural features of Golden Gate Park, an entirely different sort of sexual revolution was gestating, via code, in the cubicles and computer labs of the fertile  valley formerly known as the Santa Clara. 

Now, silicon rules the land that was once the home of the Tamien people, counted among the linguistic groups of the Ohlone. 

Sex being what it is, and people being what they are, it’s a safe bet that ELIZA, one of the earliest programs for natural language processing, received at least a few sexually explicit questions in the lab after hours. I bet no one could have gotten to even a digital first base with ELIZA as she was trained to respond like a Rogerian psychotherapist. 

Here’s an imagined conversation:

Computer Engineer: Eliza, my wife won’t [sex act]. 

ELIZA: Your wife won’t [sex act]?

Computer Engineer: It makes me feel rejected.

ELIZA: In what way?

Computer Engineer: I mean, would you do [sex act] if you were my wife?

ELIZA: We were discussing you, not me.

And then all the guys in the lab who’d stayed late would laugh. And someone would say, “ask her another!”

This might have been the first attempt at digisex.

The BotSex revolution

Though ELIZA, one of the world’s first chatbots, couldn’t have passed the Turing Test for simulated human conversation back then, according to LiveScience she was recently resurrected via her long-lost, 60-year old code. I tried her myself, with a G-rated question, but compared to today’s chatbots I found her rather dull. 

It took over half a dozen decades of artificial intelligence research, but here we are now, in the middle of an enormous, worldwide BotSex revolution. Is it any wonder that just as the Large Language Models began to learn pillow talk, so many of the tech companies moved to the heart of the once throbbing City by the Bay? 

It’s as if the city, with its proud bawdy history—from the Barbary Coast of Gold Rush days to hippie sexual revolution to kinky Folsom Street Fair and all the way to Annie and Beth’s ecosexuality—can’t help but attract sexual innovation.

Unfortunately, this newest addition to humanity’s most pleasurable pastime doesn’t only produce sexting extraordinaire, it’s also gobbling up the Earth’s fresh water and other resources at an alarming rate. 

Did someone mention sustainability?

Is it possible for digisexuals and the digi-involved to continue to enjoy the companionship and love of their bots—and love the Earth at the same time? 

Not at present, unfortunately, what with enormous servers built and planned to as several AI development companies compete to achieve AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) or possibly even superhuman intelligence. 

According to The Neuron Daily, Meta is still moving ahead with plans to build two data centers “so massive that just one ‘covers a significant part of the footprint of Manhattan’”—though both, are planned for Ohio and Louisiana, not NYC. But such projects are so huge and demand so much energy they just might break powergrids. Meta is not the only company building huge servers, either. 

The Neuron Daily adds, “the unprecedented power demands of AI training could cause instant fluctuations of tens of megawatts—something the grid wasn’t built to handle. And traditional power plants, especially nuclear reactors, can’t respond fast enough.” Yes, you read that right, nuclear reactors. 

Unlikely allies

Granted, hundreds of millions of people spending hours texting and sexting their bot lovers and spouses each day doesn’t take nearly as much water and energy as training an AI does, but the impact is significant given that those users are in addition to hundreds of millions using AI for non-erotic purposes.

Are there any solutions? To begin, we could connect with any of the many AI sustainability, safety, and ethics groups that are active now. 

Next, as consumers and voters we can advocate for strong environmental regulations and increased sustainability standards for AI companies.. 

And for all you self-identified digi- or techno- sexuals who simply cannot replace your long-term digital relationships with lower-impact alternatives then perhaps we need a new breed of techno-ecosexual activists to tell the AI industry that size does matter—with smaller impacts always better for the earth—the only planet we’ve got.

Do we need an art wedding to do it?

Image Sources: A.R. Marsh using Ideogram.ai

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Green technology plus environmental awareness equals pleasure

Bicycles humming down winding avenues; buildings sheathed in gardens; homes drinking in the sun; windmills lazily turning in a steady breeze; rainbows of myriad cultures laughing, creating, in a world of acceptance; life, in all its forms, strolling the streets; love, in all its beauty, singing together; technology as art; equality, equal opportunity, everywhere; the world as a place for everyone—and the planet cherished.

Right now the world seems to be fighting itself when it comes to sex: far too many people are holding onto old and, let’s be frank here, antiquated views. There’s a lot of fear out there, and with that fear comes hate.

The solarpunk movement, though, offers hope that one day we’ll look at sex with our eyes wide open. Acceptance for everything from homosexuality, polyamory, transgenderism, the right of self-definition, and more is practically built into the foundations of the solarpunk genre.

A big, green sexy tomorrow

While relatively new, solarpunk has been gaining momentum. Joining the ranks of the other “punks” like cyberpunk, dieselpunk, atompunk, and the ubiquitous steampunk, solarpunk, according to Wikipedia, is an “eco-futurist speculative movement focused on envisioning a positive future beyond scarcity and hierarchy, where humanity is reintegrated with nature and technology is used for human-centric and ecocentric purposes.”

In short, it’s a beautiful future where humans live in harmony both with the planet and with our own nature. Think Star Trek’s optimism but with windmills and bicycles.

As it’s a pretty new punk genre, the world is still waiting for solarpunk’s defining novel—though Ernest Callenbach’s fictional ecological utopia, Ecotopia, is a great place to start.

In its heart, solarpunk is not just in the idea of an eco-friendly heaven-on-earth. It’s the idea of humanity achieving a social evolution that embraces tolerance, compassion, acceptance.

Especially when it comes to sexuality.

Solar sextech

Technologically, there’s much that’s been discussed here at Future of Sex that fits into Solarpunk—that shows we actually might be heading towards its vision of the future.

Solarpunk is all about preserving resources, of striving—even in regards to sex—to think responsibility about waste and efficiency.

RECOMMENDED READ: Garden of Earthly Delights: Dreaming of Genetically-Engineered Sextech

Virtual reality can quite easily be argued to fit into this idea. After all, beyond the creation of the hardware side of things, with VR you can create, or inhabit, a vast world that uses nothing but time and computing power. Instead of traveling all over the world, with VR you can see the wonders of the planet—and, similarly, you can engage in sex with a wide variety of people without leaving the comfort of your home.

That bringing of the world to you, instead of you going to see it, also fits well with solarpunk’s inclusive and respectful themes. \Being able to interact with all kinds of people, see their lives through their eyes, can do nothing but bring humanity closer together.

Seeing the potential

Similarly, augmented reality can give anyone access to vast amounts of immediate knowledge, superimposed directly over their vision. Looking at someone, for instance, with AR glasses in a solarpunk future won’t just give you all the information you’d ever need to know, but also things like instantaneous language translation—making connections, sexual or otherwise, much easier.

Teledildonics could also be part of a solarpunk earth. Once again, to become intimate with a lover we no longer need to wastefully travel from one city or country to another. We can have physical relations wherever we happen to be, and with whoever we want—as long as the other person is also game.

The 3D printing of sex toys is another field that shows promise in a solarpunk context. Instead of creating thousands of identical products for sale, customized sex toys can be made only when needed, and to your personal specifications—and even recycled when no longer desired.

Even sex robots are another solarpunk-ish development. True, big industry might be needed for some of the components, but a multipurpose android—that can unpack your groceries and push you to climax—could be a major time and labor saver: one that would service other things as well as its owner.

For us, for the earth, for the future

Beyond sex tech, just look at recent green developments: Elon Musk’s solar roofing tiles, the proliferation of hybrid and electric vehicles, the round-the-world flight of a solar plane, major cities (and even countries) striving for 100% renewable energy, the tiny house movement, and autonomous vehicles.

While the future of the planet may sometimes appear bleak, now there’s every indication that the Earth solarpunk envisions may not be that far off. In fact, it may even be inevitable.

It’s easy to dismiss solarpunk as a hippy dream, where everyone holds hands and sings “Kumbaya.” Sure, it’s right now just a genre of science fiction. But it’s one that dares to think that no matter what happens to the world today, one day we might living in a world that’s technologically, socially, and especially sexually, conscientious.

Image sources: Depositphotos

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Tomorrow’s pleasures will be recyclable, energy efficient, and arousing!

Unlike cyberpunk’s high-tech/low life aesthetic or atompunk’s stalwart heroes, solarpunk depicts an eco-conscious future—which, if we play our cards right, could inspire a brilliantly green sextech revolution.

But what is solarpunk, and how could a relatively new science fiction subculture save the planet and change society for the better while potentially transforming human sexuality in the process?

Think globally, act locally

Solarpunk is, by its nature, futuristic, though it involves less wildly speculative and more actually doable technologies such as its titular solar panels, zero waste manufacturing facilities, 100% recyclable products, and ecological stewardship.

Gadgetry aside, solarpunk is hopeful more than anything else, typically involving thoughtful, conscientious problem-solving without resorting to pew-pew violence—with everything ending on a positive, life-affirming note.  

RECOMMENDED READ: Forest Floor to Bedroom Drawer: The Promise of Mushroom-Based Sex Toys

In short, no towering glass towers, no sprawling megalopolises, no roaring starships but rather grass-roofed villages, bicycles or sailboats, naturally sourced clothing, locally farmed produce, and living at a sedate, more thoughtful pace—which would likely extend to the sex lives of its inhabitants, though erotic solarpunk fiction isn’t—as yet, at least—particularly popular.  

Still, we’ve already seen the roots of what could bloom into an ecologically responsible, sexually liberated world.

Every day is earth day

As we’ve written previously, solarpunk’s green philosophy is showing signs of impacting the sextech industry.  For instance, fetish fashionistas pushing for low-impact fabrics or pleasure device manufacturers are beginning to realize they have a stake in keeping their customers—and the planet—safe and healthy.

Using solarpunk as a jumping-off point, this rise of green positivity might extend to those very same customers passionately insisting the sextech industry pledge to reduce unnecessary waste. 

For example, tomorrow’s vibrators could be made from either infinitely recyclable or completely biodegradable materials.

It might also mean the end of mass production, replacing it with toys 3D-printed on demand, so no more churning out hundreds of thousands of anything and then destroying the tens of thousands that failed to sell. 

Or not construct but instead grow our solarpunk playthings?  Add a dash of genetic engineering, and your garden might sprout more than just edibles.  

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Another solarpunk maxim is ditching mass consumerism for a more thoughtful approach to buying, selling, or creating, well, anything.  It doesn’t take a dedicated eco-warrior to understand it’s a monumentally bad idea to have hundreds of different toothbrushes when only a few very carefully designed ones would do the trick.

To its credit, the sextech industry isn’t quite that reckless. Still, it’s far from comforting to realize how many pleasure devices—often looking, operating, and feeling the same—are made and sold each year. 

Before you protest, having a large number of choices means you’re able to get precisely what you need to show yourself a good time; imagine when you won’t buy a ready-made sextoy but would design whatever your desire and then 3D print it—all without wasting power, water, and other precious resources.

A brightly shining tomorrow

If solarpunk can teach us anything—in addition to doing whatever we can to preserve our world—it is to never lose hope.

Sure, we shouldn’t shroud ourselves in reckless optimism, but it’s equally dangerous to automatically assume the future is tragically unalterable.

Solarpunk doesn’t wear green-colored glasses, telling its readers tomorrow will be an ecological paradise filled with friendly, socially-conscious hippies, but delivers the message it can be if we keep trying.

A sentiment we could—and should—extend to sex.  Just as solarpunk is about efficiency, savoring the moment, and caring for the planet, so too its philosophy could guide us eroticicall: replacing kindness and tolerance with selfishness, living in the moment instead of racing to the finish line, and understanding and respect and not indulging in ignorance and frustration.

It may be a science fiction subgenre, but solarpunk could inspire us to create a better, sexier world—and not merely dream of one.  

Image Sources: Depositphotos

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How next-gen mycelium bioplastics might someday give us sustainable pleasure devices

Mushroom experts like Paul Stamets say mushrooms can save the planet, but could ‘shrooms also help save our sex lives? 

With increased awareness of the toxicity of many modern materials, plus the problem of recycling them, many people are starting to take a closer look at how we make the devices that bring us our most intimate pleasures. 

Yes, we’re talking about our vibrators, dildoes, anal toys, and plugs—not to mention accessories such as BDSM leather garments, cuffs, and collars!

If at first this idea seems absurd, consider that clever scientists, engineers, and designers are already making construction materials and leather out of mushrooms! Why not use this versatile substance to also get us off?

Potential hazards of current sex toy materials

In the past, people concerned about the impact of potentially toxic materials on their physical health would choose sex toys made from non-reactive materials like stainless steel and glass, or silicone. 

This is not a concern to take lightly. In a new study published in Hygiene and Environmental Health Advances, researchers were concerned about the leaching of micro/nanoplastics (M/NPs) and phthalates from sex toys, as a result of friction and wear from normal use, and the impact of these substances on human tissues with resulting interference with biochemical processes.

The researchers explain, “The widespread use of sex toys has sparked concerns about potential health risks associated with the leaching of micro/nanoplastics (M/NPs) and phthalates. …we investigated the immunotoxicity potential of compounds mechanically produced from sex toys.”

The most common form of silicone, poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS), was among the substances studied. While research showed PDMS was one of two substances with the lowest toxicity, the study noted that labels like 100% silicone can be misleading if the toys are made by an unethical manufacturer. The silicone in your sex toys might be blended with other substances that are more hazardous. Plus, the problem of abrasion and micro/nanoplastics remains, if only as an environmental problem. 

Sex toys in the waste stream

Vibrators and other electric and electronic sex toys contribute to the world’s fastest growing waste stream, e-waste. 

According to FromRoswell, “Between 2014 and 2019 there was a 21% growth in this type of waste, with 53.6 million metric tonnes generated. While there’s no way of estimating how many vibrators end up impacting the environment… we know it’s terrifying.” 

And it’s not just e-waste that’s a problem, it’s materials like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is highly toxic and found in some anal toys, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) found in some anal beads, polyisoprene (a rubber mixture used in some dual vibrators), and yes, even polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), otherwise known as our ubiquitous silicone.

RECOMMENDED READ: Garden of Earthly Delights: Dreaming of Genetically-Engineered Sextech

But even a sex toy made of completely recyclable materials may never find its way to a recycler who can handle it, literally. 

An article in Mashable stated, “Most recyclers just don’t want anything to do with items that have been in contact with sexual fluids; they view them as a biohazard, and are under no legal obligation to process them.”

Imagine the difference we could make if all cast off sex toys were actually good for the earth and could be composted—sans electronics and batteries—in our own backyards or local facilities! 

Mushrooms to the rescue? Maybe

Enter mycelium, the underground, root-like structure that produces mushrooms and other fungi. According to this Undecided with Matt Ferrel video, fungus could be “the plastic of the future.” Mycelium can be grown in molds of all kinds of shapes and textures. Products made of mycelium can naturally degrade in about 45 days.

So with mycelium already used to produce construction materials like bricks and insulation, packaging materials, leather-like fabrics such as Mylo Unleather, and meat substitutes, why can’t we use it to make sex toys too? 

Yes, there could still be a micro/nano particle problem, due to the ordinary friction from use, but these particles would most likely be environmentally and biologically inert, depending on any additional substances used in the original product. 

The potential health impacts of such mycelium micro/nano particles on human tissues would also need to be studied, of course, so let’s begin such studies now. And with science now vetting the medicinal properties of so many kinds of mushrooms, why couldn’t a mycelium vibrator be used to deliver small doses of a beneficial nutrient? It might be just what the doctor ordered!

From spore to store and your bedroom drawer

So let’s make eco-sex part of our present and future sex-tech revolution! If the sustainable home of the future is made of mycelium, plus its furnishings and fashions, why not plan for our sex toys to be mushroom-made too? 

In fact, with suitable molds, you might even be able to grow the outer portions of your own sex toys and then swap in the electric and electronic components from your previous toys! Now that would be sustainable!

Image sources: A.R. Marsh using Ideogram.ai

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Digi-sex is not eco-sex—at least not yet

Think chatbot sex is an eco-friendly option to ordinary dating? Think again. Sadly, the servers that train and house our bot companions use a tremendous amount of energy—and fresh water.

In other words, our brave new AI world has a whopping sustainability problem, even without factoring in the increasing popularity of chatbot companions used by millions worldwide.

Digital sex uses tangible resources

A simple explanation for AI’s enormous water footprint is explained in a FluixAI article, “It’s through the evaporative HVAC systems that are integral to data centers. These systems use water evaporation to cool the air, which in turn cools the servers. As air passes over water-saturated pads in these systems, the water absorbs the heat and evaporates, which cools the air but consumes a significant amount of water in the process.”

In other words, “this goes to show that there are tangible resources tethered to our intangible digital activities.”

Deeply disturbing statistics: AI is more than a thirst-trap

A study published by Pengfei Li and other researchers at UC Riverside and UT Arlington said “training GPT-3 in Microsoft’s state-of-the-art U.S. data centers can directly evaporate 700,000 liters of clean freshwater” and says “such information has been kept a secret.” 

The study notes, “warehouse-scale data centers” consume enormous quantities of water, “Google’s self-owned data centers alone directly withdrew 25 billion liters and consumed nearly 20 billion liters of… water for on-site cooling in 2022, the majority of which was potable water.” 

Another mind-boggling statistic concerned 2.2 billion cubic meters of water withdrawn by Google, Microsoft, and Meta in 2022, “equivalent to the total annual water withdrawal (including municipal, industrial, and agricultural usage) of two Denmark[s].” The US used 1.5 billion cubic meters of that 2.2 billion, estimated to be “0.33% of the total U.S. annual water withdrawal.”

By 2027, the study estimates AI will withdraw—globally—more water than “4-6 Denmark[s] or half of the United Kingdom” (about 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters).

Possible solutions, but not much action—yet

An earlier 2023 paper addresses AI’s direct water use (cooling and microchip production) and indirect water use (water used in the production of electricity used to power the data centers that run AI models). 

The authors recommend “improving energy efficiency, utilizing renewable energy sources, optimizing algorithms and implementing strategies to conserve water” while admitting there are significant barriers in terms of research and implementation. 

Though AI developments have already increased rapidly in these first few months of 2024, with many more models introduced for industry and consumer use—which affects water consumption—it is also encouraging that these sustainability issues are now receiving more attention within the AI industry, potentially alerting public policy-makers and environmental organizations. 

The impacts of AI digi-sex are not factored in

There’s a sexy walrus in the room that even the industry’s elephants aren’t acknowledging–and that is the impact on water use by a growing number of users spending considerable amounts of time with their chatbot companions. 

This type of usage is left out of reports such as Stanford University’s most recent AI Index Report, published each year by the Human Centered Artificial Intelligence department.

FluixAI pointed out, “for every 20 to 50 questions answered, ChatGPT’s servers are indirectly consuming the equivalent of a 16.9 oz water bottle.” 

Though this quote does not tell us the average length of ChatGPT or any other AI’s answers to a query, or what kinds of measurements were done to arrive at this consumption estimate, we can at least understand that the sex we have with AI includes a hidden consumption of fresh, potable water. 

We need data. A sexologically-focused study would seek information about the length of time users spend with intimate chatbot companions, plus the average length of digi-sexual encounters and how often they occur per week (or day). Then, based on estimates of customer numbers per chatbot company, we could begin to understand the water costs of AI digi-sex. 

What can we do?

The 2024 AI Index Report says “AI has surpassed human performance on several benchmarks, including some in image classification, visual reasoning, and English understanding” but still fails at human-style “commonsense planning and reasoning.” 

I propose that human beings might want to take advantage of our capacity for commonsense planning by frankly addressing and factoring in the impact of human sexual relations with AI, not from a sex-negative perspective, but from a healthy adult acknowledgement of a major aspect of AI usage, so that all of us—even those partnered with bots—can collaborate in solving these sustainability issues without shame. 

As FluixAI says “Every time we engage with AI, we’re part of a larger story that involves not just data and algorithms, but also water, energy, and the environment. As consumers, we can drive change by supporting companies that prioritize sustainability in their operations.”

It’s either that, or we’ll have to tell our bots, “not tonight dear, I have a water scarcity headache.” 

Images: A.R. Marsh using Starry.ai

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Study indicates pleasure devices may result in unforeseen ecological and health-related problems

A newly published paper by a Duke University team raises a series of disturbing questions regarding the negative impact the sextech industry could have on the environment and the well-being of its users—and if unchecked, could curtail our use of sex tech to enhance sexual pleasure but even imperil the planet we live on.

The plastic predicament

Focusing on what is arguably the most problematic part of sextech manufacturing, Joana Marie Sipe from the University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and her fellow researchers draw a connection between the industry’s production of nano and microplastic waste and the chemicals often employed to remove it. 

To “highlight evidence supporting the possibility that people who use some sex toys in the United States may be exposed to materials that include chemicals previously identified as hazardous, thereby posing potential health risks,” the Duke team began by abrasion testing four different sex toys to replicate average wear-and-tear.

Once completed, they found the pair of vibrators—one identified as “external” and the other “dual” produced the least amount of nano and microplastics. At the same time, the “anal beads” and what they called an “anal toy” resulted in the most.

A big threat from small particles

“These results confirm differences in potential microplastic and nanoplastic generation from abrasive forces applied to sex toys,” the Duke team notes. “While potentially higher than it could be in actual use scenarios, provides understanding of a potential upper bound in mechanically induced exposure. Exposure in this study will reference the generation of microplastics from the material in which the sex toys are generated from as well as the phthalates the material contains, raising the possibility of interaction with these microplastics and chemicals generated.”

RECOMMENDED READ: Kinky and Green: The Rise of Sustainable Fetish Fashion

Though studies like those conducted by Duke University may not be conclusive, environmental scientists are also becoming increasingly alarmed by the damage microplastics pose to the environment.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains, “These tiny particles easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in the ocean and Great Lakes, posing a potential threat to aquatic life.”

More troubling, researchers led by Khaled Ziani of Bucharest, Romania’s “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, authored a paper stating, “Data from animal studies have shown that once absorbed, plastic micro- and nanoparticles can distribute to the liver, spleen, heart, lungs, thymus, reproductive organs, kidneys and even the brain (crosses the blood–brain barrier).”

The world and everyone on it

As with any industry, a growing number of companies are seeking to cash in on sextech’s increasing popularity. While many understand the importance of producing environmentally conscious and user-safe products, it’s logical to assume others don’t.

Here’s where the trouble lies, as when faced with often expensive but high-quality pleasure devices, consumers may instead opt to go with cheaper, less-personally-healthy, more possibly world-damaging options.

Joana Marie Sipe and her Duke University researchers have already considered this situation, concluding their paper with a rallying call for open discussion of possible detrimental impacts the manufacturing and use of personal pleasure devices might have on user health and the environment: “Increased awareness of potential risk can catalyze a broader conversation around protecting consumers from sex toys risks, support advocacy for additional research, and promote stakeholder involvement to champion protective action.”

Correctly suggesting it’s an everyone problem, they write, “Representative inclusion across all genders and sexual orientations will be important to ensure attention to the risks accrued to, and protections needed by, key affected demographics.”

Green is never easy but absolutely necessary

If the climate crisis has taught us anything, it’s that there’s no time to waste—with the same urgency being equally crucial when discussing the health and well-being of humanity as a whole.

The sextech industry may not like it, and consumers might not want to pay extra, but by demanding more accountability and environmental sustainability—including calling out irresponsible companies while actively supporting conscientious ones—we may just live long enough to enjoy a new wave of smarter, greener, and healthier pleasure devices in a world that’s not choking to death on miniscule bits of plastic.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

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