Let’s Talk About Batteries Effects On The Environment!

Batteries are right now a major part of our life! We use many things like laptops, cellphones, electronics, toys, etc which became part of our revolution right now. These things in fact do require one of the most dangerous batteries for the environment. Let’s now talk about why batteries are even harmful to the environment!

Electronic waste or e-waste refers to the waste which is discarded. All of the things which run on batteries are considered E-Waste. In the UK, only 15% of mobile phones were recycled. A major component that runs these cellphones is batteries. Think about the number of batteries that are improperly discarded each year in the UK right now or perhaps the world!

There are many different kinds of batteries! A few examples of batteries include Alkaline Batteries (AA & AAA batteries), coin and button cell batteries, lithium batteries, lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, and so on. The fact which makes batteries very dangerous is the chemicals. The chemicals have a big impact on the environment. One way these chemicals damage our environment is because of mining. We mine for all of these resources so mining destroys many habitats. Also, these poisonous substances cause contamination of the water and soil killing all of the wildlife within the contaminated area. A few of these chemicals which are found inside batteries are Lithium, Nickel Cadmium, Manganese, Zinc, Mercury, etc. These chemicals are extremely toxic to us humans as well!

Air Pollution is another type of disaster which is caused by batteries! When the batteries are burned in the landfills, accidental fires are caused because batteries are very flammable. The chemicals in the battery cause toxic gases to go into our atmosphere. As a result, this creates air pollution!

Water Pollution is another disaster caused by batteries. The deadly chemicals find their way into the local rivers, streams lakes, etc. These toxic substances also find their way into the local water supply which poison’s the water. As a result, this is damaging the health of many people and animals! Eating Fish which is found in these polluted waters also damages the human body!

Soil Pollution: Remember how I talked about contamination of the soil? Well to summarize this topic, chemicals from batteries make their way into the soil damaging all of the wildlife and killing plants and trees which intake all of these chemicals accidentally.

Now, let’s talk about how to help reduce batteries going to landfills and damaging our earth!

Use Rechargeable Batteries:

Many batteries just die off quickly. Rechargeable Batteries can take many recharges and could last more than 5 years! That is a long time to use just one battery! So I and many environmental experts advise you all to use these batteries to reduce the number of non-rechargeable batteries going to the landfills.

Recycle The Batteries:

This is not hard! Just putting 1 battery in the Battery Bin can make a huge difference! Think about how many pounds of CO2 and the number of plants you are saving by just recycling 1 used battery! That is why we advise you to use companies like Call2Recycle and Recycle My Battery to recycle your used batteries!! Re-Cell Center and Redwood Materials are also major Battery Recycling Organizations that would be happy to recycle your lithium-ion used batteries for you! You can also walk into your local Staples or Home Depot or any electronics store like Best Buy to dispose of your used batteries.

So in conclusion, the invention of the battery was a major event and change in humanity! The invention of the battery has helped us more than we thought. But still, batteries pose a great threat to us and our environment.

All YOU need to do is to make sure they are disposed of properly when you use up a battery!

This is the time to do so before it is too late to make a difference! 1 Battery recycled can make a lot of difference!

Author: Sri Nihal Tammana

Source: https://ecofriendlylink.com/blog/batteries-and-the-environment/

PC: Forbes