Sunday, January 25, 2009

Batteries


Here is a tip for saving money on batteries. Invest in a battery tester! When your electronics start to show signs of low battery, nine times out of ten it is only one battery that is causing the trouble. The other batteries are usually fine. But most people throw out all of the batteries and replace all of them - at a considerable cost. The cost is monetary and it is also at a great cost to our environment. I purchased my tester at Radio Shack for less than ten dollars.

The sad thing is that currently there is no way to recycle batteries. Currently, most batteries collected through household battery collection programs are disposed of in hazardous waste landfills. Even stores and chains that have established take-back programs admit that it often ends up in the trash. There are no known recycling facilities in the U.S. that can practically and cost-effectively reclaim all types of household batteries, although facilities exist that reclaim some button batteries.

Rechargeable batteries result in a longer life span and use fewer batteries. However rechargeable batteries still contain heavy metals such as nickel-cadmium. The use of rechargeable batteries can reduce the number of batteries entering the waste stream. The problem is that at the same time, it may increase the amount of heavy metals entering the waste stream.

I still say that rechargeable batteries are the best to use because unlike their non-rechargeable counterparts, rechargeable batteries can be recycled!

So in summary, use rechargeable batteries, check your batteries when your appliance is running low and only replace the ones that need replacing and finally, recycle your batteries when they are no longer of use.


The battery manufacturers have funded a joint recycling center. To find a center near you that will take them, click here!

1 comment:

Squid Girl said...

Recycle them for free at www.call2recycle.org. The program, available in the U.S. and Canada, is funded by the rechargeable battery industry so it doesn't cost us the recycler, or retail or community drop-off locations to participate.