If you really want to minimize the amount of toxins that you put into the environment, use rechargeable batteries. Disposable and rechargeable batteries can contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, and with an estimated 3 billion batteries a year being discarded in the U.S. alone, the sometimes small amounts in each battery can really add up. Using rechargeables greatly reduces the number of batteries entering landfills, but many people don't bother buying them, or the chargers that they require. That's where earthCell batteries come in. They can be used like disposables, except that users send them away for for recharging or recycling when they're dead.
earthCells are low self-discharge nickel metal hydride (LSD NiMH) batteries, which among other things are claimed to have a much longer shelf life than regular NiMH batteries, and longer run times than alkalines. When a customer's earthCells do expire, they put them in a prepaid mailer. Once that mailer is full, the customer sends it off to the company.
Staff at earthCell will test each used battery that arrives. If it's up to snuff, it will be "revitalized," then resold - each battery can reportedly be recharged hundreds of times. If the battery is just too used up, it will be dismantled, so that its materials can be used to create new batteries.
"Our batteries are essentially rechargeable batteries," earthCell founder Jason Rugolo told us. "They can be recharged at home in LSD NiMH chargers. Our understanding is that the vast majority of people out there don't want to manage their battery stock, perhaps because batteries are an insignificant part of peoples' lives."
Rugolo is presently in the process of raising funds for his business, on Kickstarter. A pledge of US$13 will get you four AA and four AAA earthCell batteries, along with a mailer. Higher amounts will get you more, with pledges of $45 or over paying off in 10 AA's and ten AAA's.
Projected retail prices for the batteries haven't been announced yet, although Jason has stated that they will be a much better value than disposables. So far, earthCells will only be available within the U.S.
The pitch video below includes some more details.
Might be useful for someone who doesn\'t have electricty or access to the sun for a solar charger...
Our batteries are cost-competitive with alkalines, including the prepaid mailer to recycle them. That\'s a huge win for customers who don\'t recharge their own batteries, and an even bigger win for the fight to eliminate battery waste.
As for the environmental costs of shipping, it\'s an important point. What is relevant is the marginal environmental cost per weight of USPS shipping, since the postal employee is coming to your house anyways. This happens to be very small.
That cost has to be compared with the way you buy batteries. For example, hopping in your Prius to grab 4 AAs at the last minute has a vastly larger footprint. Grabbing some AAs at the store with the rest of your groceries in your Humvee has a larger footprint. If you walk to the corner store, however, then the mail delivery would have a somewhat larger footprint.
Ultimately, given the choice between making the mailman\'s bag a bit heavier, or landfilling billions of batteries every year, I\'d make the bag heavier every time.
Sincerely, Jason Rugolo earthCell founder
It says at the end of the article that these cells can also be charged at home as usual for rechargeable batteries.