Dispose of Batteries Properly

Did you know that you can't just throw away old batteries into the trash? Batteries contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and nickel, which can be harmful to the environment.

According to Environment, Health, and Safety Online, batteries can cause many environmental hazards such as:

• pollute bodies of water when metals vaporize into the air when burned
• contribute to the metals that leach from landfills
• expose the environment and water to lead and acid
• cause burns and danger to the eye and skin

Actually, metals leaching from landfills is a serious matter, and batteries are a major contributor. 88% of the total mercury in landfills is from batteries. If you've ever been told to beware of broken mercury thermometers, you know how dangerous this metal can be.

So, what can you do with your old batteries? On the same site I listed above, there is a big table with all types of batteries and what you should do to dispose them. Some of the options include recycling, hazardous waste collection sites, etc.

Also, I thought I should mention rechargeable batteries. Though these are still made of the same metals and materials, they obviously can be used many times and therefore if you make use of them you will not have so many batteries to try to get rid of! We have some at home and it's quite easy to charge them up, actually - just stick them in the charger for a while until the light turns green. But make sure not to mix them with regular batteries!

This image is from Bristol Batteries.

Some Shocking Environmental Facts

I was looking up some statistics to share with the Ecology Club at my school, and I found some really saddening and shocking realities of our society today.

1. One year's worth of the New York Times paper weighs 520 pounds. That really struck me, but the more I think about it, the more I realize it really shouldn't be that surprising. There are so many pages of ads and the classified section. Most people only get the newspaper to read the headlines or their favorite page anyways. I think we should all take advantage of the online New York Times.

2. 40% of the solid mass in landfills is made of paper and cardboard. Recycle, recycle!

3. The office paper we waste each year could build a wall from New York to California.

These above facts were found at Top Ten Shocking Facts You Didn't Know About Office Paper Waste.

4. Four to five trillion plastic bags are made each year. Some reusable bags could cut this down...and some ideas here for reusing plastic bags...

5. Americans through away 100 billion of these bags each year, and only 1% are recycled. I know my local supermarket chains all have bins outside for plastic bag recycling, so check to see if your's does.

6. One billion seabirds and mammals die each year from ingesting plastic bags.

The above facts are credited to Say No the Plastic Bags.

These statistics seem so immense, and sometimes I feel a little helpless, like what can one person like me really do? But then I think, every time I recycle, every time I reduce or reuse, I am keeping that one piece of paper or waste away from a landfill - and that's my part. That's all I'm capable of controlling, but I can always hope to influence others to do their part too.

This image is from Knight Science Journalism Tracker.

Don't Waste

Remember how your mother always told you clean your plate, because children elsewhere are starving of hunger? The better strategy, I have learned, is to take less in the first place. This starts way before you serving yourself a meal - back to the grocery store.

Always check for expiration dates and serving sizes. Once I bought a huge bag of flaxseed because it was on sale and I needed a tablespoon of it for a recipe. Well, I forgot one detail- nobody in my family uses flax and nothing else I make requires flax! That sad bag sat on my fridge shelf for three months until it was past the "best used by" date and was tossed into the trash. Really, what a waste of food and money.

Remember how you learned in elementary school that the Native Americans were in tune with nature and respectful of everything, meaning they used the whole animal/plant whenever they killed anything? Well, I'm not suggesting that you demand the bones with your deli meat and carve jewelry, but there are so many things that we throw away without realizing its uses! For example, peels on veggies and fruits can be made into compost, as explained in this previous post.

Another thing many people throw away is the stem of broccoli! That is my favorite part of the vegetable - it's crispy and crunchy when made in a stir-fry. Just peel away the hard outer layer, chop up, and throw into a stir-fry. Most parts of vegetables can be eaten in some form- just today, I learned that the leaves of a pumpkin plant are delicious and nutritious after a quick turn in the pan with some olive oil and salt. Eggshells are good for plants if you crush them around the surface of the dirt.

Some people even eat the shells of shrimp and crabs! I'm definitely not to that step yet- eugh! The point being, a lot of the things people think of as trash and throw away can be used in some way or another. This image is from Innovate Infinitely.