http://www.care2.com/greenliving/recycling-batteries-light-bulbs-and.html
Recycling Batteries, Light Bulbs and Sneakers: Easy Greening
Adapted from Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: An Easy Household Guide by Nicky Scott (Chelsea Green, 2007)
Cans and newspapers are easy to recycle, but what in the world are we supposed to do with things like batteries and light bulbs? And although they’re not toxic (well…) what about those cruddy sneakers? Read here for Nicky Scott’s advice on what to do with hard-to-recycle items.
Batteries (Household)
The energy needed to manufacture a battery is on average 50 times greater than the energy it gives out.
Reduce: Cut down on batteries—use the sun! Buy solar powered (or clockwork) equipment. Otherwise, use rechargeable batteries and a battery charger. You can now get CD or cassette tape walkmans, radios, flashlights and toothbrushes, which use rechargeable batteries.
Recycle: The U.S. is relatively ahead of the game for the recycling of batteries. The Battery Act of 1996 was created to phase out the use of mercury in batteries and provide for the efficient and cost-effective collection and recycling or proper disposal of used nickel cadmium batteries, small sealed lead-acid batteries, and certain other batteries. In addition there is a national program, Call2Recycle™, sponsored by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) to help you recycle your used portable rechargeable batteries and old cell phones.
Why recycle batteries? While the exact chemical make-up varies in different types, most batteries contain heavy metals that are a cause for environmental concern. When disposed of incorrectly, these heavy metals may leak into the ground when the battery casing corrodes. This can contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife.
Cadmium, for example, can be toxic to aquatic invertebrates and can accumulate in fish, which makes them unfit for human consumption. Some batteries, such as button cell batteries, also contain mercury, which has similarly hazardous properties. Mercury is no longer being used in the manufacture of non-rechargeable batteries, except button cells where it is a functional component.
Light Bulbs and Light Fittings<p?
Reduce: Buy low-energy bulbs, especially for places where you leave the light on for long periods. Energy-efficient light bulbs last for years—I’ve had some going for over thirteen years now! They cost more to buy, but are well worth it.
Dimmer switches help to prolong the life of conventional (incandescent) light bulbs, and dimming your lights saves energy.
Recycle: Some groups are now recycling light bulbs, fluorescent lights, television sets, and computer monitors. See Lamprecycle.org, a one-stop source of information about spent fluorescent and high intensity discharge lamp recycling.
Sneakers
Recycle: There are a number of charities that send your used sneakers to impoverished places with little access to athletic shoes. Shoe4Africa collects running shoes, cleans them up and ships them to East Africa to encourage sport. The first pair of Shoe4Africa shoes to be donated back in 1995 went to Mark Wendot Yatich, then an unknown runner—he went on to win the Los Angeles Marathon. Another runner to get shoes that year was Japheth Kimutai, who three years later won the Commonwealth Games 800m gold medal.
There are a number of options for donating old sneakers. Nike has a fantastic recycling program called Reuse-A-Shoe, which is working to close the loop on the life cycle of literally millions of pairs of old, worn-out, or otherwise unusable athletic shoe material. Nike collects worn-out athletic shoes of any brand, not just Nike, and recycles them into a material that is used to make new soccer and football fields, tennis and basketball courts, running tracks and playground surfaces around the world.
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29 comments
add your comment »WHEN PUT YOUR GARBAGE OUT IT GETS REUSED TO MAKE OTHER THINGS.OLD FURNITURE THAT YOU LEFT OUT TO GET TAKEN AWAY BY THE GARBAGE MEN "RECYCLERS".SUPPORTING PEOPLES NEEDS IS A REAL PLUS IN THE METHOD OF ENCOURAING REUSE.
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I heard that Staples takes non-rechargeable batteries to recycle, just call before you go to make sure your store participates. I think Whole Foods does too.
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OK, great info, except....where do we recycle NON-rechargeable batteries? I have a milk carton half full of those! Will soon buy a recharger, that's for sure.
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For items such as the plastic tubs for cottage cheese, and coffee cans or other items no recycling center will take - contact your local school - esp. the pre-school grades - to see if they want them for kids to use for arts and crafts projects, "storage" of their crayons, mixing of poster paints, etc.! Many times the kids will plant seeds in small plastic containers to learn about agriculture and need these for their "pots"! Higher grades possibly could use them (such as Wood Shop, Home Ec.) for storing components used in class. Coffee cans make great "gift containers" once decorated and can be "saved" to be reused over and over! Use plastic tubs to hold screws, nuts, bolts, buttons, and coffee cans to hold ribbon, zippers, thread, scissors, and other sewing items. Decorate coffee can, place roll of toilet tissue in it, then place in bathroom for unique hiding place of this spare roll :-)
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Dumpster diving's good exercise. In fact, it's the only kind of diving I do :) HA! No, seriously, I've found some GREAT stuff by the dumpster at my old apartment, like once I found a Rubbermaid 5-shelf unit for FREE, baby! Check on donating to/buying from thrift stores or storehouses, too. And get some of those solar lights for outside...cute and no electricity needed other than what they gather up from the sun and store in their rechargeable batteries. And buy from farmer's markets or produce stands to reduce some of that nasty packaging you get from grocery stores and support local farming.
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On the topic of solar power, why aren't the Iranians being encouraged to develop it instead of nuclear power?
Oh, right, the oil companies wouldn't like that.
Solar power has been marginalized for what, 30 years and NOW it is being suggested as an alternative?
Stop the suppression of technology and these issues will disappear.
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Hoppla!
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From Rome, New York. Our students have a beautiful new track to start out the school year on. How? From Nike! It is beautiful. We had the choice of three different colors.
;) I believe I read that Dell Computers will recycle any types of computers and parts.
My guestion, what to do with "good" rags? These are cloth's that have passed the stage of being passed on, being so thin, or unmendable tears, etc., not really cleaning rag material, but take up a hugh area in a land fill. I tried to find an outlet on the computer, but all I found was sights where I could buy products made from recycled cloth. We havew a very active recycle program, but they couldn't answer this question also.
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Frankly, I believe recycling should be mandatory nationwide.
The main problem I have is flip-top plastic coffee containers. I use them for storage of rice,beans,cornmeal,flour & so on. I gave some away on free cycle, but I still have plenty. Any takers? They're free.
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What really burns my toast is the fact that, while my municipality will take plastics, they will ONLY take plastic BOTTLES! They don't recycle anything else plastic, like yogurt tubs, cottage cheese tubs, etc. That forces us to try and reuse them, and that creates a challenge for us. We have tried to find other plastics recyclers who will take these things off our hands, but no luck. :(
I really believe cities and counties could be doing a much better job!
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