There are various ways as an individual, you can reduce the impact your lifestyle has on the planet and they don’t have to be expensive or time consuming to facilitate.
Recycling is simple enough to get involved in and every little effort helps, consider recycling your old batteries or even better using rechargeable ones. Most common electrical items we use daily need batteries to operate them, but instead of buying a one time use disposable battery try a rechargeable one as it means less waste and pollution. Rechargeable batteries can be used for everyday use just as disposable alkaline batteries can.
As the demand for batteries grows so has the need to find reliable and safe ways to dispose and recycle them. Batteries can contain harmful chemicals and metals, including nickel, mercury and lead acid, which if not disposed of correctly and safely can cause harm to the environment. If they are simply thrown away, batteries can pollute lakes and streams as the metals vaporise into the air when burned exposing the environment and water to lead and acid.
If they are left to decompose naturally in a landfill the toxic substances within them are released and leak slowly into the surrounding soil, groundwater or surface water causing corrosion of the soil and serious health hazards for people and wildlife. If we were all to throw away our batteries after they have run out there would literally be millions of them littering the earth and polluting our atmosphere.
Many local authorities now have special banks or collections for electronic waste where you can be sure your old batteries are disposed of safely. Recycling can save resources as the recovered plastic and metals can be used to produce new batteries.
To reduce or prevent household battery waste there are a few things you can do. Always check first to see if you already have the batteries you need in the house before going out and buying more. If at all possible, try to find a product that can be operated by hand instead of the version that uses batteries. If you have to buy batteries try to find ones that contain less mercury and heavy metals. Consider rechargeable batteries for some needs, but remember that they also contain heavy metals such as nickel-cadmium and will eventually need to be disposed of safely too.
Rechargeable batteries are much more environmentally friendly than disposable ones, even if your rechargeable batteries only last 100 times, at least you have saved throwing away 100 alkaline batteries in the trash. Rechargeable batteries cost far less when calculated on a per use basis and are worth the initial cost you have to pay.
Make sure you invest in quality batteries and a charger, if you buy cheap batteries from the local store then don’t be surprised when they only last for a short time. Batteries can be recharged more than a hundred times or more before they need to be replaced. Imagine the saving you can make long term as there will no longer be a need to buy new batteries every time they run out.
New technology means that rechargeable batteries can easily provide 30% to 50% more energy than regular alkaline disposable batteries.
If you consider how many products use batteries these days, amongst them radios, laptops, iPods, watches and clocks, portable stereos, mobile phones and digital cameras, as children’s toys become more advanced each year they usually require batteries to perform their various tricks and stunts.
As technology improves, the rise in the number of batteries needed also increases and they have become a necessary part of our lives, without batteries our daily routine would be a lot less mobile and convenient.
For your battery solutions, check our Online Shop where you can find suppliers of single-use and rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries have a far longer life span than other one time use batteries and can last for years, some manufacturers of rechargeable batteries claim their batteries can be expected to last as long as 3,000 charge cycles.
Overall, rechargeable batteries can provide many benefits both to the environment and economically and they are great way to start your contribution towards taking care of our planet.
