The danger in your recycling bin

As you know, I'm a strong proponent of recycling. My family recycles as much as we can, including batteries. As a matter of fact, my daughter started a battery recycling program at our church. However, after watching the video below today, I'll be changing my ways a bit. 

You see, there is danger involved whenever you have 9 volt batteries laying around, whether in your junk drawer or recycling container, unless you do one simple thing. 

First, let's look at what is so dangerous about them. 

According to a press release, New Hampshire Fire Marshal, William Degnan states that a 9 volt battery is a fire hazard because of the positioning of the positive and negative posts which are right next to each other. If the end of the battery comes into contact with anything metal (paper clip, other batteries, scissors, aluminum foil), this can cause the 9 volt battery to heat up and ignite. Scary stuff. So, how many of you are heading to your junk drawers to see if you have any 9 volt batteries tossed in there? What about your battery recycling containers? 

In the video below, you'll see how a house was destroyed by a 9 volt battery. Apparently, it's not an uncommon occurrence, which is why I felt the need to share this information with you. 

Many people follow the advice to switch your smoke detector batteries annually, or semi-annually. When you do that, you are placing a still-live 9 volt battery aside with enough juice left to burn down your house. Yikes! 

So, what do you do? The solution is simple. Keep a roll of electrical tape with your battery recycling container and cover the positive and negative posts of the battery before you put it in the bin. If you open a package with two 9 volt batteries and use only one, do not put the battery in your junk drawer without doing the same thing. Yes, it's just a 9 volt battery. But please believe me, that even after it's been used, it could still have enough juice to light a fire. 

Protect your home and your loved ones. It's easy and it's important.

Apathy...or is it?

I don't get it. What, exactly, is so difficult about recycling? Does it really take that much more effort to deposit a plastic bottle or aluminum can in the recycling bin rather than the trash can? Is bundling up your newspapers and taking them to a paper recycling receptacle all that difficult?

There are approximately 44 million newspapers dumped in the landfills every week in the United States. It takes 500,000 trees to produce that many papers and we thoughtlessly toss them out. Why? I must admit, I'm completely baffled by all of this.

Perhaps it's not indifference, but rather ignorance that perpetuates this vicious cycle. Until I wrote an article about battery disposal, I always tossed my dead batteries in the trash. I wasn't being lazy or self-centered, I just didn't know any better. That's the biggest perk of my having this blog...I learn so much. It's my goal to pass some of this info on to you and, hopefully, teach you something new that will change your habits. Then you can tell someone else about it and they can start doing their part for the environment as well. Little things lead to bigger things. A handful of people can become a crowd. As my minister said in his sermon today, it just takes a little bit on the part of everyone.

So, maybe rather than getting frustrated with people's supposed apathy, I should just plod on...learning, sharing, doing. Those are my thoughts for today.

Keeping it green,

Hana