Hi All, Master recycler John Fischer here with KLCC's Living Less Unsustainably.
Lane County Waste Management - the folks who run Short Mountain Landfill, and manage all the trash picked up at your home, are conducting a survey to see how much you know about the proper way to dispose of, or recycle, batteries. The information they are collecting will guide future strategies to make sure batteries are disposed of properly.
Since the survey closes today, a few bits of information from me shouldn't have a huge impact on results. If you want to take the survey before hearing what I have to say, go to their website, or KLCC's, take the survey, then listen to me later.
The only batteries that should go in the trash are alkaline batteries. All other types - lithium, rechargeable, button, computer and cell phone batteries - even the batteries in greeting cards or kids shoes need to be recycled. In California, much of Europe, and other civilized countries, even alkaline batteries cannot be thrown in the trash.
The batteries have valuable, and toxic materials that can cause pollution and fires when improperly disposed of.
Listen up if you want to ace the survey - there were 49 battery related fires at the landfill last year - only 34 the year before. That's a 40% increase, and cause for concern.
Fortunately, there are lots of places to recycle batteries. Many stores, cell phone companies, and waste collection sites take used batteries. For safety, put a piece of tape across the two ends before recycling them.
To reduce the amount of battery waste you generate, let them run out of power before you get new ones, or better yet, use rechargeable batteries in toys and flashlights - the way cellphones and computers do.
I'm John Fischer with Living Less Unsustainably.