Recharge your batteries :Rechargeable batteries can last 500 times longer than single use, and always find a place to recycle them.
“Let us not become weary in doing good,” Galatians 6:9
Did you know?
Every year over 15 billion batteries are produced and sold worldwide Household batteries that are thrown out with the rubbish end up in landfills where they corrode and break apart, releasing dangerous lead and acid into the soil. Batteries that are incinerated reduce toxic chemicals into the air.. Many are alkaline batteries which are discarded after a single use. Fortunately, thanks to ongoing advances in both batteries and battery chargers, alkaline batteries can be replaced with higher capacity, environmentally friendly, rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries.
Recycle
Once a lead acid battery has died, there is no chance of a resurrection ,however it can be effectively recycled. It will be sorted and placed into a battery breaker and pulverised into small coin shaped pieces. These pieces are placed into a tank and the dissimilar densities are separated––heavier pieces, such as lead sink, while lighter pieces, like rubber and plastic float. Liquids, such as water and acid go into a neutralising solution, and once the PH is neutral, it is innocuously discarded into the sewage system. The plastic is melted down, the lead is cleaned of impurities, smelted into ingots and both are remoulded into new batteries.
Lead-acid batteries are an environmental success story with more than 90% of all scrap batteries successfully recycled in South Africa. This is compared with 70% of beverage cans, 65% of newspapers, 30% of plastics, and 26% of glass.
WHAT TO DO
- Use rechargeable batteries. they last 500 times longer than alkaline batteries
- Use mains power instead of batteries whenever possible
- Find out where to recycle your batteries and organize a system to help others to recycle too.