Consider Rechargeable Batteries
December 13, 2011, By Craig J. Heimbuch 0 comments
A cursory count through the rooms of our small home, a check of the toy boxes and drawers, a peek under the sink and rough numbers crunched in my head. I'm stunned by what I find. There are more than 100 objects in our possession that require batteries. Toys, remotes, gadgets and tools. Some are used every day, some have been collecting dust. But inside each an every one of them is a circuit board, a motor, a lightbulb or microprocessor that needs to be fed.
Another look through the drawers, the kitchen junk drawer in particular, reveals batteries everywhere. Some in their original packaging, some efficiently sorted and put into sandwich bags for later use. They go largely unseen. They are tucked away unnoticed until they are needed.
And given the sheer number of items that require their temporary and ultimately fatal service, they are needed a lot.
Then I get to thinking about Christmas, birthdays, special just-because occasions and realize that our numbers are not going to be decreasing anytime soon. More toys, tools and gadgets will find their way into our lives, and they will need batteries. A lot of them, each one torn from its plastic blister pack and sent forward to sacrifice like a Russian soldier at Leningrad.
When I think about the cost, I cringe. Read this financial analysis of the standard vs. rechargable from The Simple Dollar and you'll get the picture. Is any of it really and truly worth it? The lighter on my grill probably is and a few of the kids' better toys certainly are, especially on long road trips. But for the most part, these things are just noise makers; the kind of "boom, bright lights pretty" stuff that entertained cavemen. Yet, they seem like such a good idea at the time. And, given the amount of joy that spreads across my daughter's face when she pushes a button and Oscar the Grouch pops up singing about how much he loves trash, maybe it still is.
But there's still something that grates on me every time I open a flashlight and blithely chuck a couple of double-As into the trash. I feel like I'm doing something dirty, something morally reprehensible. I'm not the greenest guy on the planet by a long shot, and I've made peace with that. Given my predilection for road trips and Christmas lights, I'm pretty sure I won't be getting any awards from the Sierra Club anytime soon. But I sort my trash. I dispose of paint and motor oil when the city provides a special pick-up. And my dad works in the hazardous waste disposal industry. That's got to count for something, right? Every time I hear the dull thud of a double-A as it hits the bottom of the trash can, I feel a pang of guilt and with good reason. From the outside, a used battery looks exactly the same as a new one. How many things do you throw away that look brand-new? Not many. Not at our house anyway.
