My quest to properly recycle household batteries led me to the “starter” iRecycle Kit which I ordered on line from www.batteryrecycling.com. Arriving in a standard US postal box, this convenient kit is simple and complete. The iRecycle Kit contains an attractive cardboard battery collection carton, a cellophane tape dispenser, and instructions on how to properly recycle batteries.

To my surprise the company behind the kit, Battery Solutions, not only accepts household batteries for recycling, but rechargeable battery packs and handheld electronic devices too. How convenient to be able to recycle your spent batteries and outdated electronic gadgets from your own home. Best of all, you have up to 1 year from the date you start collecting until the kit must be returned for recycling.

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User’s Choice
The other day I was cleaning out our family “junk drawer”. You know that one drawer treasure trove containing everything from old sales receipts to mystery keys of long forgotten locks. Well, this particular drawer had its share of miscellaneous objects but one collection stood out above all the rest: spent batteries. The drawer was heavily laden with an assortment of old alkaline (AAA, AA, C, D, 9V) and lithium (button) batteries that for eco-guilt reasons I just couldn’t throw out.

According to the EPA, “Every year in the United States, Americans buy, use and throw out billions of batteries.” For me, the tough part of the above statement is, throw out. While I know that alkaline and lithium batteries are classified by the federal government as “non-hazardous waste” and can be thrown out with the kitchen trash, it just doesn’t seem responsible to put them out for curbside trash pick-up knowing they will end up in a municipal landfill. So, I collect them and collect them and collect them.

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