My faithful laptop popped this week 😞. The usual tricks have not yet brought it back to life, and the next step is battery removal. Having looked it up, several bits needs to be removed first, & no one is brave enough for that sort of DIY at the moment. So, this blog is brought to you by my phone. I will need to keep it short for the sake of my eyes!
Please pardon all faults in it! If they are too displeasing, I may have to set up a go fund me campaign to get a new laptop 😉
Once again, my daughter’s nursery has inspired my post. Today we took in the batteries we collected for the battery hunt, so combined with our laptop issues, it’s got me thinking.
It turns out that the UK has one of the lowest battery recycling rates in the EU. After missing targets in 2016 and 2017, they (we?) finally met their (our?) targets in 2018, saving 17,811 tonnes of batteries from landfill. That is only 45% though, so there is still more than 20,000 tonnes being sent to landfill each year! If my maths is right (it could be wrong), that’s the weight of 3,300 bush elephants! (The big ones).
I love recycling. I do it as much as I can, but I’ll be honest & admit I have chucked a battery in the bin on more than one occasion. You keep them aside, because they can’t go into curbside recycling, then they get mixed with the good ones accidently, & just when you need a battery, you can’t find a good one. They’re a bit like pens in that regard. It’s good to chuck out pens when they conspire against you, but unfortunately the same is not true for batteries.
While almost all battery types can be recycled, please don’t add them to your dry mixed recycling. A recycle truck caught fire just last month after someone put a laptop battery in their recycling! It wasn’t me… We can’t remove ours 😉
It’s time to stop dumping them at landfill too. They are packed with earth metals & other charming substances that can (& do) contaminate the soil and water suppy as they degrade.
So, people – let’s step it up! Here’s what I propose:
- Reduce – we have too many battery powered things in our lives. Toys especially don’t *need* to be powered. Let’s be more imagination powered! My kids are more than capable of making enough noise without the help 😂. The next time you are about to buy anything that needs a battery, stop & consider if you really need it.
- Reuse – Use rechargeable batteries. I’ve tried this several times before. For some reason I can’t make it stick. Maybe too many things need batteries & I need too many? But I’ll try again if you will!
- Recycle- this is not as hard as we make it. There are now recycling collection points in most supermarkets, as well as at waste management/ recycling banks. If we’re used to taking our own bags when we go shopping, let’s get used to taking the battery jar when it’s full.
As for phone batteries, mine never lasts anymore 😒. So it’s time to say farewell, until next week! I’m off to charge my own battery 😴😴
🔋 🔋 🔋
Nicky Goes Natural 