While their individual wants may vary (probably depending on which commercial they have seen or which friend bought which gadget most recently), one common feature of the things they may want is a battery. Or multiple batteries.

Nowadays, just about everything requires one or more batteries to operate, some rechargeable by design and others using traditional, disposable alkaline versions. An estimated 15 billion alkaline batteries alone get made and then chucked every year. Unfortunately for the planet and its inhabitants, all of those batteries contain toxic components, such as mercury, cadmium, lead, and other metals. Equally unfortunately, only a tiny percentage of the rechargeable and disposable batteries used to power modernity’s techno-trinkets ever get recycled or disposed of in safe ways. As a result, those toxins combine with all the energy and pollutants emitted during the manufacture, transport, and storage of batteries that end up in the trash after a single use.

Recognizing the seriously hazardous trend in battery production and usage, UK-based company Moixa Energy has launched its Alkaline Awareness Campaign to help educate consumers. In addition, Moixa Energy is offering a special “Carbon Footprint” version of its USBCELL rechargeable battery–so that consumers will recognize how they are acting as “CO2 Savers” by using the USBCELL instead of alkaline batteries.

Read more of this story »

SEE Toys has created five different kid-powered toys: Dyancar, Dynatiger, Dynafly, Dynashark, and Dynadolphin. SEE stands for safety, ecology, and economy, and all of the toys are designed for children five years and older. SEE Toys are powered by a dynamo, which is a power-generating motor; children energize by turning a crank. The dynamo charges the rechargeable batteries that make the unbreakable LED lights and sounds emit from the toy. According to Sun Yu, president of Zen Design Group, "The introduction of self-sustainable SEE Toys carries an important message of responsible living to our youth."

Our family tested the Dynafly, which my daughter affectionately called "Buggy." Buggy positively reinforces children with laughing noises when they turn the crank. My six-year-old daughter was so fascinated by this, that we have been unable to truly test the dynamo and batteries to see how long the toy will play before needing a crank. She insisted we take Buggy on a six-hour drive to San Francisco, and the toy held her fascination for the entire drive there and back; however, once we arrived home, Buggy was abandoned for more interactive, creative toys. It doesn’t take long for a six-year-old to get tired of a toy that only lights up and makes noises, even if it is kid-powered. The wings, legs, and antennae are bendable, but this was not enough to sustain my daughter’s attention beyond the car trip. In contrast, I think my three-year-old son would be fascinated by the Dynacar and play with it for many years.

SEE Toys claims to be "The First Environmentally Friendly, Kid-Powered Toy Line," but I question this claim. It is true that the toys do not require disposable (recyclable) batteries that account for 72,000 tons of landfill waste in the United States each year; however, the toys are made from plastic and are manufactured in China. The information provided by SEE Toys did not state whether this plastic comes new materials or is made with post consumer recycled plastic. I applaud Zen Design Group’s efforts; however, I think that it would be more interesting to see a dynamo-powered toy that children will play with for many years, especially when targeting children ages five and up. How about a dynamo-powered ipod or musical keyboard?

In my opinion, just putting a dynamo in a toy does not make it environmentally friendly, especially if it does not sustain the interest of children over time. Many toys end up in landfills just for this reason, and I still believe the most environmentally friendly toys are made from renewable materials, are open-ended, and grow with a child’s imagination. Now that my daughter has lost interest in Buggy, her father can’t wait to take it apart and see how it works. Wouldn’t it be grand if there were kits available for children to make their own dynamo-powered toys? The possiblities are endless, and I thank SEE Toys for moving the toy industry in the right direction. We now have a really cool, dynamo-powered bug flashlight for when our hydro goes down.

We have been putting our money into buying rechargable batteries rather than disposable ones. Rechargable batteries are an obvious choice for a greener lifestyle.

On a recent trip to a certain well-known big-box home improvement chain store, we were appalled to find out that they do not sell any rechargable batteries there, although they had "economy packs" of alkaline batteries (36 size AA disposable batteries for $12).

I don't have enough electronic devices where I need that many batteries all at once. Like most people I suspect, I use my batteries sequentially, a couple at a time in a couple of devices. For that same $12, I could get 4 good rechargable batteries and, by the time I was on my 10th recharge, I'd be using nothing more than a couple pennies of electricity to charge my rechargables - they would have paid for themselves.

I would also be able to avoid the more than 2 pounds of waste that jumbo pack represents. Not to mention all the toxic materials in disposable batteries. Yes, batteries are going low mercury and "mercury free" (99.99%). But a "mercury free" battery still allows more than 2 milligrams of mercury in a 1 ounce battery. So, if you aren't using rechargables, make sure you are responsibly disposing of those alkalines. And, when they finally do expire, make certain to recycle your rechargeable batteries as well - there's a lot more useful material in rechargeables than is in disposables.

As was the case for us with compact fluorescent bulbs, we didn't go through the house and take out every bulb and replace them all immediately. Rather, we bought a few, and started using them, and used them more as we went along. The same thing is true for batteries.

If you have an electronic device that uses standard batteries, get two sets (so that you'll have one set in the device and another set that can be charged up when the others are getting low). Once you start doing it, it's easy to keep using the rechargables, and you'll be spending less of your money buying little toxic pellets to provide a few hours of electric power.

Philip says: Having a couple of kids, we have a lot of battery powered toys and devices around. But my older son has already learned to ask if the batteries inside a particular thing are "'chargeable" or not.