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March 31, 2005

Recycling

I've always been very interested in recycling.

As the years go by though, it's taking up more and more of my time, thought processes, and space.

Here's what I mean:

Batteries:

In the old days, you bought a battery, used it, and threw it in the bin when you'd finished. Now you have two options - normal batteries or rechargable.

If you use normal batteries, then when they are finished you should recycle them. I know this is true, because my office in Sweden when I worked there had a battery recycling point. I don't know where you recycle batteries in this country, so I've collected quite a large boxful of old batteries, which are taking up space in my house, and I guess are probably not even that safe.

If you choose rechargeable batteries, then you have the added problem of always having to remember to keep them charged. Many times my portable music player has run out on the way to work, and with no spare that means waiting a whole day before I can listen again. It's a bad idea to recharge batteries before they are completely dead, and spare batteries lose their charge anyway just sitting in your pocket.

And if the battery is inside your mobile phone, or razor or laptop, then it is already rechargeable so you have no option but to keep a charger nearby. The problem with this is that every single device has it's own special charger. I've resorted to buying spare chargers for use at home and office, so that I don't need to carry them all around in a suitcase. A suitcase is exactly what I need for the chargers I have to take on holiday nowadays for my digital camera/camcorder/razor/PDA/laptop/music player.

Even more vexing, is the idea that the rechargeable batteries really aren't that green anyway. They take electric power to charge, which is made from fossil fuels in the main in the UK.

I've used batteries as an example of how complicated I find the decision making, but paper and plastic, old TVs and fridges, even garden waste, are all in the same category. And what about tins of tuna. If your council collect the empty ones, where do you store them before the weekly (or even fortnightly) collection? Not in the house, they'll really smell, even if you wash them. And the boxes supplied probably don't have lids, so leaving them stinking at the side of the house to attract cats/flys etc isn't that nice. So now you're forced to wash your old cans before putting them out.

Recycling is a really sensible idea, but sometimes you just have to say "what the heck" and just chuck the rubbish in the bin if you want to have any chance of getting out of the house.

I even feel bad for taking a 'new' polystyrene cup for my coffee just now. The cup I used this morning had old dried coffee in it, I could have used it again i suppose.

Posted by se71 at March 31, 2005 01:08 PM

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