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.

I am a coward

I am a coward. There, I said it. Again.

This morning, while I was taking my Monday morning walk (rarely a good thing), I got to get a glimpse into the life of my neighbors (trash day always does that). If anything can draw out my "Judgmental Antenna," it is walks on trash days.

Of course, the rich folks at the top of the street cannot be bothered with recycling, even though it is mandatory. I guess they'd rather pay the fines than actually have to think about what to toss and what to recycle. You don't know how that makes my blood boil!! Never, ever ... not even once ... have I seen a recycling bin at the end of their driveway.

Moving down the street, I was appalled to discover boxes, yes, I said boxes, of books waiting for their demise in the the landfill. Boxes!! Who throws out boxes of perfectly good books??? Seriously.

Well, here's where the coward part comes in. I didn't rescue them. I thought about it. I stewed. I even talked to my husband, who was at work, about what to do.

"Go over there and get them," he ordered.
"I can't," I moaned.
"Why?"
"I just feel stupid. First of all, I'd have to back the car up to get them. They're too heavy."
"Take the wheel barrel," he suggested.
"I'm not taking the wheel barrel," I firmly stated.
"Just go over and knock on the door and tell him you're going to take them to the library."
"What if he's not up yet?" My excuses kept coming.

The fact of the matter is ... if I'd discovered this last night, in the dark, I would have snatched up the boxes of books in a second. But in the broad daylight, with neighbors all around (I live in a neighborhood where an awful lot of people are home during the day), I just couldn't do it. However, if the boxes only contained books, perhaps I would have done it. But they didn't. Neatly stacked among the hardback books were magazines ... and we're not talking Woman's Day or Family Circle here. We're talking pornography. And I just couldn't bring myself to asking the neighbor if I could take the boxes, out of fear of embarrassment ... for both of us.

So as I debated, and vacillated between right and wrong, I heard the garbage truck heading up our hill. It was too late. For a moment, I wanted to run up to the driveway and say, "No, you can't take these," shielding the boxes with my body. Instead, I quietly cringed and turned away as the first box was hoisted into the truck.

Today, I'm grieving the death of a society that cared about the earth. A society that wasn't wasteful. A society that didn't have so much that barely anything was of value. I'm grieving the books that had worth and could have brought others joy. And, I'm grieving my lack of character ... my inability to stand up for what I believe in ... for what is right.

I am a coward, indeed. And as I sit here with tears running down my cheeks, I hope you will forgive me for that.

My plan was to write more about my Sabbath experiment today. But first, I decided to go for a walk ...

Sharing my heart,

Hana

How full is your trash can?

Are you a typical American? If so, did you know that your production of garbage averages about 4.5 lbs./day.  Does that not disgust you?

My husband and I have really become conscious of this over the last 10 months or so, since I created my alter-ego, The Green Grandma, and I'm happy to say, we didn't even bother putting out our garbage this week. There wasn't enough to bother with. Our recycling bin was full, of course, and we took some bags of paper over to our church's paper recycling bin. But our garbage can had one small bag in it. And that makes me happy!

Earth Day Greeny Award -- Recycle Rama

Earth Day brings out the best in people....sometimes. I found out about something that's going on at a high school in my area that I think is simply awesome! The Hampton Township School District (located north of Pittsburgh) is hosting its third annual Recycle Rama this coming Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the high school.

The amount of recycling options are phenomenal and I'm hoping by posting this, some of you will take the idea to your school districts, churches, civic organizations etc. I'd love to see this idea spread like wildfire across the country for next year's Earth Day and beyond.