kinda genius: green(er) batteries
Disposable batteries are not environmentally friendly, but I confess we still use them in my digital recorder and our camping flashlights. We do, however, save them to dispose of properly — I have noticed, to my happiness, that you can drop spent batteries and lightbulbs off in bins in IKEA’s lighting department (at least in Seattle). But eventually I hope to be able to try new EnviroMAX batteries from Fuji, which don’t contain cadmium or mercury, are packaged with recycled paper and fully recyclable PET plastic, and won’t harm the environment if disposed of in a landfill. Not that any landfill waste is a good thing, but this is a step in the right direction. You can find them next month at ACO, ACE, and Do It Best hardware stores, plus Big Y stores in Massachusetts and Shop’ n Save in St. Louis. You can buy them in Fuji’s online store too, but right now they’re only taking contact info as the batteries are out of stock. –Mary T.
Another alternative is to use rechargeable batteries. The Seattle Costco had a starter kit of Sanyo Eneloop batteries for about $28, which I bought last week. They can be recharged up to 1000 times and hold a charge for almost a year, overcoming some of the drawbacks of other types of rechargeable batteries. The kit included 8 AA, 2 AAA batteries, the charger, plus — and this is a novel idea — C and D-sized sleeves to fit over the AA batteries. http://www.eneloop.info/home/why-eneloop.html
Re-chargeable batteries are an alternative but there are consequences. These types of batteries contain heavy metals making for a toxic disposal when it comes time to pitch them. It is important that we balance our efforts to reduce the amount going into our landfills with the need to be prudent about what we actually put in them; our ground water and air quality depend on it. Until they can make re-chargeable batteries clean, I like these new safe-to-throw-away kind.
I tend to agree with Jeff. Virtually all rechargeable batteries contain lithium… a VERY nasty thing for the environment. And believe it or not, the FAA regs prohibit anyone from taking a loose lithium battery onboard an airplane. They could explode or catch fire. Another “fun fact” about lithium — it is used to enhance the explosive effects of atomic bombs!