Thirty years of throwing batteries in the trash finally clicked for me last week

Helped my nephew clean out his grandpa's garage. Found a box of old 9-volts and D-cells from the 90s. Some were busted and leaking crap everywhere. I told him to toss em in the garbage can. He looked at me like I had three heads and walked them over to the county hazmat drop-off. Said his school taught him that in 4th grade. Felt like a dinosaur. How many of you grew up just chucking alkaline batteries in the kitchen trash without a second thought?

2 comments

2 Comments

seth68318d ago

Man, that hit me right in the gut. I was exactly the same way for years, just tossing dead batteries in the regular trash without a second thought. My old man never taught me any different either, he'd just dump em in the kitchen can and call it a day. It's crazy how much things have changed in just one generation, you know? Now my kid corrects me if I even look at a battery wrong, haha.

thomas.parker18d ago

My town started fining people fifty bucks for putting batteries in the trash a couple years back. That got everyone's attention real quick, now there's recycling bins at the hardware store and the library. Kids today just know this stuff automatically, guess that's what happens when they teach it in school.