heavy metals

If you’re like me, you’ve probably never put much thought into your batteries. You probably rotate between a few popular brands trying to find the longest lasting, most affordable options on sale at the time. You bring them home, you pop them in to your flashlights, remotes and smoke detectors and Voila, you don’t think about them again until your stuff stops working or your child’s favorite toy starts sounding like some sort of demented demon.

I’ll even go as far to say that once or twice, you have probably forgotten about a pair of batteries left in a gadget that wasn’t working for some time. When you open up the battery pack, you find white, flaky stuff all over your batteries [you know you have]. Did you know, that was battery acid leaking from your batteries? Even worse, do you know about all of the other hazardous materials and heavy metals that could also be leaking from those tiny tubes? Mercury, Lithium, Lead, Cadmium … just to name a few … it’s all in there and well, if the acid found its way outside I’m betting the other stuff will too.

Did you know that in most states, batteries are considered hazardous waste and are not supposed to be tossed into the regular trash receptacles? I never really new this until I became a Hazmat Monitor in the Air Force and had to collect all of my units discarded batteries. Really, the thought had just never occurred to me. I’ve tossed my fair share into the trash, I’ve used my fingers to scrape off the white flaky stuff [Hmm, chemical waste on my fingers ... Great], I’ve even put 9 Volt batteries to my tongue [when I was very young] to feel the shock they give off.

These days, I’m thinking in a whole new, greener light. I worry about what happens to the waste that leaves my house and well, I hope that you do too. I hope that you’ll click to find out what you state says you should do with your battery waste.

I hope that whenever possible, you’ll consider the safer, greener batteries that are on the market today. What? You didn’t know there was such a thing as green batteries? Me neither! That’s one reason I love being an online green spokesperson, I’m made aware of all sorts of products I didn’t know existed. I try them out and then, if they meet my approval, I’ll let you know I think they’re worth while. In the case of green batteries, consider me a Fuji Enviromax covert. Now, let me tell you why …

For me, claiming to be green isn’t enough – these days, a product must not only be free of harmful materials but it must have been produced in a safe manner as well. Fuji has done a great job exceeding my requirements. Not only are these puppies green [meaning they have no ozone depleting compounds] but they’re also manufactured following strict environmental standards and made from 93.3% recycled materials and packaged in recycled materials as well. Green from start to finish, I love that.

They’re also safe to throw in the trash and last just as long, if not longer than other leading batteries and have one of the longest shelf life’s on the market – 7 years!!. Even more importantly, since these batteries don’t contain any mercury, lithium, lead or cadmium, I don’t have to worry about natural resources being mined so I can change my clicker.

Now, let’s take a look at some numbers:

3,000,000,000 [3 Billion] – the number of batteries purchased by Americans each year

8 – average number of batteries discarded for each person in your home

48 – the number of batteries my family will go through this year [I'm betting we'll use more]

What about time and effort you say? What will using Fuji Enviromax batteries cost you in the long run?

Fuji Enviromax – $22 a year per person [$132 for my family] (Based on the US average, see above)

Other Leading Brands – $20 a year person [$120 for my family] (Based on sale prices)

Cost Difference – $2 per year [$12 a year for my family]

That’s right, $2 per person in your house, per year. That’s how much it will cost you for peace of mind knowing you aren’t leaking heavy metals or hazardous waste into your drinking water or putting your children in contact with carcinogenic materials. I don’t know about you, but $2 sounds like a Great price to me.

Now, here’s my favorite number: 23,288 – that’s the number of batteries we can keep out of landfills each year if everyone of us switches from our current batteries to Fuji Enviromax or a rechargeable alternative. See, I told you are small steps would pay off in big ways.