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Little Green Reader Question: 

I heard that batteries are bad for the environment and shouldn’t be thrown out with the regular trash. How do I get rid of them so that they don’t cause any harm?

Recycle your used batteries

Resident Expert Answer:

You are right, batteries do contain chemicals like mercury, lead, cadmium and nickel that can harm you and the environment when they are thrown out with the trash. Batteries can release toxic substances into the ground as well as into the air when burned in garbage incinerators. Luckily, today’s batteries contain far less toxic materials then they did way back when your parents were kids. Many towns are even advising their residents to simply throw batteries out with the trash. But until batteries are made out of soybeans, there is still some risk of hazardous materials contaminating our soil, water and air. And like all other garbage, when recycling is an option, that’s your best choice. Recycling saves resources like recovered plastic and metals that can be made into new batteries. 

There are two good options for recycling your batteries. You can visit earth911.com to search for places in your area that will recycle your batteries. Some stores like Whole Foods Market and Radio Shack are starting to accept them. 

If you can’t find a place in your area that will accept them, you can order a battery recycling kit, like the iRecycle Kit from Battery Solutions and start collecting them right at home. Once you have enough batteries to fill the box, ship it pre-paid to their recycling center. This is a great community service project that you can set up at your school, club or church. You will make a lot of people, who just like you are bewildered with how dispose of their batteries, very grateful!