Batteries.

This post is dedicated to Tim.  I asked him to name an eco-topic and he said "recycling batteries", so here we go.

No discussion of battery recycling would be complete without a discussion of the problems with disposable one-use batteries.  First of all, there is the manufacture, production and transportation of the batteries, which produces chemicals which contribute to photochemical smog pollution and air acidification. Batteries that have been compromised can release toxic substances into the environment. If you buy one-use batteries, then the batteries either go into a landfill or they are recycled, and the latter only happens if the person disposing of the batteries knows where to take them for recycling, which few people actually know.  Older batteries, which contained more mercury than those produced today, absolutely should always be recycled.  The jury is still somehow out on whether the landfill contribution of modern batteries is sufficient to justify their recycling.

If, however, you are using recyclable batteries, some, but not all, of the foregoing issues are mitigated.  There is only a one-time production impact, although there is also the production of the recharger which must be factored into the overall equation.  There transportation implications will, of course, be the same (if not doubled due to the addition of the recharger).

In Canada, you can recycle your batteries (both single-use and rechargeable) at many convenient locations.  To answer Tim's question, and for those of you also living in North Vancouver, you can recycle your batteries at Home Hardware, London Drugs, Canadian Tire and Rona, amongst others.  These locations accept a wide variety of batteries, including those used in computers and cell phones.  There are even 14 places in North Vancouver to recycle your car battery, if you need to.  When in doubt, if living in British Columbia, consult the Recycling Council of British Columbia's Recyclepedia, which will locate businesses anywhere in the province which recycle anything under the sun.

Recycling water filters.

Many of us, including me, believe that by using a water filter and not using plastic bottles, we are helping the environment, and we are.  Certainly the avoidance of the plastic that would otherwise be either deposited in our landfills or recycled is a step in the right direction. 

While I do believe that not drinking water out of plastic bottles is a great step in the right direction, I started to find it somewhat ironic that most people that deliberately avoid such practices (including myself) continue to be reliant on filtered water and the plastic-coated filters that produce it.  I, for example, love Brita filtered water.  I've had Brita water jugs in my fridge that use filters comparable (or possibly identical) to the ones at the left of this post, for a decade or so now.  I blame it on the carbon filter, I just love the way the water tastes.

But, the probem is, if I've been thinking that I'm helping the environment by not having to recycle all those water bottles, I'm still using a plastic filter that absolutely cannot be recycled and therefore will end up in a landfill.  While these and other filters do represent a reduction in the use of plastic, this is still a problem.  So I started to try to find a water filtration system that uses recyclable or even reusable filters.  I know there is no way to live "perfectly", but my opinion is that if you can make a change, and its easy and inexpensive, then why not?  The entire purpose behind this blog is to share these small and do-able changes with others.

Well, I was sadly disappointed when I began my search.  I was able to find only one water filtration system that had a filter that was reusable without being recycled, and it was not at all what I was looking for, being both expensive and a stand alone cooler.  However, I then thought of looking into the recycling of Brita filters, which makes sense for me because I'm a current user.  I was pleased to find that used Brita filters can be recycled by Preserve in both the US and Canada.  Preserve is a company that recycles 100% of the filters (and the packaging they are returned in) into products such as those at the left.  If you live in Canada, dry the filters, put them back in the cardboard packaging they came in (so don't recycle it or throw it away when you open the box!), print out a pre-paid shipping label found here, and send them in.  If you live in the US, either take your used filters to a Gimme 5 location, or send them in to Preserve.

I think the questions surrounding water filters taught me something very important about environmentalism: even when you think you are doing something that is good for the envirornment, there is always something more that you can do to reduce your footprint.  For me it is a question of balance.  Nobody will ever be perfect, but each person can always do better.  Depending on how you look at that, it is either inspiring or daunting.  I choose to be inspired.

Plastic and recycling.

There are multiple layers to any debate on recycling.  The considerations are so complex that simply learning about recycling, which I used to look at as a panacea of sorts, has contributed more to my "environmental guilt" than probably any other cause.  There is no way that I could come close to explaining or even summarizing all of the considerations and concerns about recycling, so I will focus on some factors that have given rise to my worries.

Recycling, by which I mean placing an item in a blue bin or taking it to a recycling depot, depending on where you live/what services you use, is the last of the "Three Rs".  It seems to be the one with the most widespread acceptance, and given our consumer-driven economy, it is understandable why.  Advertising, marketing and product development are all geared towards a disposable mindset where products are designed to fail within a short period of time, at which point they will be disposed of (or, at best, recycled) and new products will be purchased to replace them.  There is no space in this method of production for products that are designed to last indefinitely.