Battery Cram

For better or for worse, batteries have become indispensable sources of energy powering everything from cell phones to sex toys. They come in a bewildering array of sizes and composition, some re-chargeable and others which go lifeless in what seems like a matter of seconds. Some people dedicate entire drawers to store them. Mostly they wind up in myriad locations around the house, generally wherever there is a spare inch of space, like the dog’s bowl or the vegetable crisper. Our issues are not with the batteries that are still in their packages waiting to be impressed into service. It’s the discards. Because people are unsure of how or where to recycle them responsibly, they become victims of neglect. Rather than dispose of them, the tendency is allow them to lie around indefinitely. You will come across them while digging in a drawer looking for a pen that works and ask yourself, is this battery expired or not? The sensible thing would be to test them out, but generally that falls under the category of “too much trouble”. Consequently, they are left in a state of perpetual limbo, neither embraced nor rejected.

Challenge
Bite the bullet. Declare today as battery round-up day. Get everyone in your household to empty their night stands, junk drawers, desk drawers, wicker baskets and other usual stashes for small objects that you use for emergency clean-ups when company is at the door. You can retire the duds while identifying the ones that will breathe life into a Gameboy. You might save enough money from this endeavor to treat yourself to a pedicure.