Disposable batteries contain many toxic chemicals that end up in our landfills and eventually into the soil contaminating our soil, water, etc. Because of that I’ve been using rechargeable batteries, I’ve tried Duracell 15-minute quick charge, Rayovac and Energizer brands which have all performed fine. Their only drawback was that if you didn’t use the battery right away it would quickly discharge.

Thankfully I discovered Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries that can hold an 80% charge for up to a year! Now I can charge up the batteries, store them and they’re ready whenever I need them. Another clever thing about these Eneloop batteries is that they come in AA and AAA only, but have C and D casings for you to insert AA batteries.

A four pack of Eneloop AA’s cost around $13, Costco had a special package that included eight AA’s, four AAA’s, a charger and some C and D converter cases for around $28 so check out the local Costco near you.

Buy Sanyo Eneloop

I see a lot of my friends still not recycling batteries like they should but then again how would they know how? 0.5 % of landfill waste are batteries, not to mention the toxic chemicals from the batteries seep into the soil for years.

I was curious to know how batteries are recycled and found out they are heated to 1000 degree Celsius until cadmium gas vaporizes and collected in a condenser. The cadmium will be reused as a new battery or changed into scrap metal. Ideally rechargeable batteries like these USBCELLs are the way to go!

• Visit RBRC.org to locate a recycling drop off center for all types of dead rechargeable batteries.
• Waste Management Company offers a kit for you to mail in dry cell batteries to be recycled.
• Battery Solutions has a kit for you to mail in any type of battery to be recycled.

USBCELL are rechargeable batteries that have a built-in USB charger and can be re-used hundreds of times. Especially since popular devices like portable GPS, MP3 players, game controllers, etc. that require batteries, it’s more important that we use rechargeable batteries since we use and throw away billions of batteries a year in the U.S. And after the rechargeable batteries (or any batteries for that matter) die, don’t forget to recycle them so they don’t end up in landfills which pollute the air, ground and water.