Recharge it - batteries and environmental pollution:
As we all know, batteries don't last forever. And when the flashlight dims or the tape deck begins to warble, you may be left with a double handful of toxic heavy metals to get rid of somehow. Until very recently mercury has been the main villain, but in addition to mercury, other hazardous metals such as lead, cadmium, chromium, and silver lurk in those little cylinders.
Americans buy about 4 billion batteries a year, and throw out 2.5 billion of them. Household batteries make up a relatively small proportion of the waste stream by volume, but they are a significant source of contaminants; more than 80 percent of the mercury in the waste stream, for instance, can be traced to discarded batteries. When buried in landfills, battery casings will eventually corrode, and heavy metals may leach into groundwater. Burning batteries is no better, and maybe worse: if they are incinerated, the toxics are released into the atmosphere, and the incinerator ash becomes contaminated and thus harder to dispose of safely. Incineration is the major cause of environmental mercury contamination.
The two most common battery types are alkaline and carbon/zinc. Up to now these have always contained mercury. to improve operation and extend shelf life. Feeling pressure from environmentally conscious consumers and government regulators, however, manufacturers have been busy developing a "new generation" of batteries with reduced amounts of mercury. Some claim to contain none at all.
The button batteries used in cameras, calculators, etc. can contain mercuric oxide, silver oxide, or lithium--all of which are toxic. Some states have considered banning button batteries outright.
Good reason to eliminate as many batteries as POSSIBLE.Good job for Easy Energy's products.
Rechargeable batteries offer a solution to some of the problems of disposables, though they have problems of their own. The most common rechargeables (nicads) are made from nickel and cadmium; cadmium, unfortunately, is yet another toxic metal, and more than half the cadmium in the U.S. waste stream comes from discarded batteries. Nicads cost more and hold their charge only a third as long as standard disposables--but a good nicad can be recharged up to 1,000 times, so you won't throw out nearly as many, and you'll save
AI
