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Electric Green: Battery Recycling

Posted by on September 14th, 2011

An ongoing study conducted by the Department of Environmental Conservation found that Americans purchase over four billion batteries per year. This number seems huge, right?

But when you consider the amount of items in your home requiring batteries, this number starts to look pretty realistic. While new technologies allow batteries to last longer and longer, the truth is they we will likely not see a battery that lasts forever any time soon (at least my lifetime).

Even though we replace batteries less frequently now days, we still create battery waste when they run out of energy. This means that we toss an alarmingly high amount of batteries in the trash every day.

Batteries that get laid to rest in landfills pose a serious health risk to humans, animals and the environment. Batteries are made of heavy metals that include lead and mercury which can cause fatal problems for everyone and everything. Yikes!

In an effort to save the environment and preserve our health, I ask you to think twice about your battery usage and disposable.

Maybe instead of buying the 72 pack of double AA’s, consider investing in rechargeable batteries. This creates less waste and contamination and saves you money in the long run.

And instead of just dumping your batteries in the trash, I urge you to seek out your local battery recycling program. Sometimes you can recycle your batteries with local super stores and hardware stores, like Target, Walmart and Ace Hardware.

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