Fall back!
Sigh. Yep, it’s that time of year again. Don’t forget to turn your clocks back tonight.
I’m kind of bummed every year when Daylight Saving Time ends and all of a sudden it’s dark before we even finish dinner…but at least we gain an extra hour of sleep, right? (Ha! We all know how well that works when you’re a parent!)
Love it or hate it, the end of daylight saving time is also a good time to check the safety devices around your home that help keep your family safe. Consider this your friendly reminder to clean, test, and replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
But what should you do with all your old batteries?
You take them to your local Call2Recycle drop-off location, that’s what!
Batteries power almost everything in our lives, from our cell phones and laptops, to noisy toys (thanks Grandma!) and smoke detectors, but as convenient as batteries are, they also have a downside. Depending on the type of battery, they can release potentially hazardous materials into the environment if not disposed of properly. Lithium batteries in the landfill can cause fires or even explode. Recycling batteries protects our environment and helps conserve our natural resources.
Call2Recycle accepts all rechargeable batteries weighing up to 5 kg each, including Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-Ion), Nickel Zinc (Ni-Zn) and Small Sealed Lead Acid (SSLA/Pb), as well as single use alkaline, lithium primary and carbon-zinc batteries.
Since 1997, the program has recycled more than 18 million kilograms of batteries, keeping them out of local landfills and recovering the valuable materials inside them that can be used to create new batteries and other products. With 8,000 locations across the country, over 90% of Canadians live within 15 km of a Call2Recycle drop-off location so there’s no excuse. It’s easy, and it’s FREE!
5 Tips for Safe and Easy Battery Recycling
- Safety first! Be sure to safely prep your batteries. There are two options: bag or tape.
- Option A: Bag each battery in its own clear plastic bag before placing it in a storage container.
- Option B: Or, tape the terminals with clear packing, non-conductive electrical or duct tape, keeping label visible.
- Stay cool. Store the batteries in a cool, dry place. Incidents can occur when batteries are exposed to inclement or excessively hot weather. Store them in a plastic container; avoid metal.
- Possible damage? If you see a swollen or bulging battery, immediately put it in a non-flammable material, such as sand or kitty litter in a cool, dry place. DO NOT THROW AWAY. Contact Call2Recycle, the manufacturer or retailer immediately for instructions, especially if the label says it is Lithium or Lithium-Ion.
- Timing is everything. Aim to drop off batteries to recycle within six months, ensuring they are bagged or taped. You can use the Call2Recycle locator to find the nearest drop-off site.
- Spread the word. As we all use batteries to power our world, share the knowledge about battery recycling. It’s the right thing to do and helps keep batteries out of landfills!
Win a $100 Gift Card to Best Buy
One of my readers will win a $100 gift card to Best Buy, a Call2Recycle partner retailer, to pick up something nice as a reward for being nice to the environment! Enter in the giveaway widget below. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18+. All the winner’s entries will be verified.
Click here to check out my other open giveaways and be sure to follow me on Facebook!
This is a sponsored conversation. Nevertheless, all opinions expressed are completely honest and my own. Your experience may differ.
There is a bag on the kitchen counter to put them in.
We make sure to bring them to a recycling center.
My husband regularly checks batteries in appliances and our kids toys to ensure they work ok and if not he brings them to his work that has a box to dispose old batteries and other devices (such as cell phones).
When have a designated box for old batteries. Once it’s full my husband takes then to the recycling center.
We have a specific place in the hall where we leave them. We then take them to the library that has a recycle canister.
My work has a recycling center and I recycle batteries there.
I take dead batteries into work and recycle them there.
I keep my used batteries in a container then when it’s full I take them in to dispose of!
I take with my to work where they get recycled
We always tape our batteries and make sure to not throw them in the garbage. I try to educate family and friends on the proper way to dispose of batteries.
we only use rechargeable batteries and have not had to dispose of them but when we do they are taken to the recycle depot
We keep a Ziploc bag in the tv stand for old batteries and then at the end of the year, we take them to the recycling depot
I always have a small cardboard box near the door, in the garage, so my family can easily drop in their used batteries. Then I can remember to check and load the box into the car trunk and recycle the batteries at London Drugs.
I have a container that my family uses to place old batteties in so we can recycle them. Bring them to a centre that recycles them to keep them out of the dump/waste.
We place them in a box and after a while when a few have accumulated, we br8ng them to a local recycle center
So we do recycle. We have a TIde Pod container in the garage. Things I didn’t know was to tape each end of the battery. To put the bulging batteries in sand. This was a great eye opening blog post. I’ll be changing our storage before taking to the depot habits for sure! Thank you,
I recycle my batteries at my local grocery store — they have a container at the door! However, I didn’t realize that they should be bagged or taped …. good thing I came across your post! 🙂
We have a designated container for batteries, then take them in to be recycled.
We accumulate them in a bag then bring them to a recycling center when the bag is full.
it’s easy here. lots of places close-by. thanks
I place them in a Ziploc and return it to Staples as they have bins by the door for batteries & ink
Our local recycling center takes them. I have always used the tape method because i don’t want to waste the plastic bags.
I collect my dead batteries in a jar and take them to work. We have a bunch of drop off containers there for proper disposal 🙂
They have a recycling bin at my husbands work!
We ensure our batteries are properly recycled by bringing them to our local Home Depot store, they have bins in front of the store to drop them in.
We have a specially marked box by the recycling specifically for batteries.
There is a box for used batteries with any 9 volts being handled specially then taken to recycling center.
We collect them in a proper bin and when its full we take it to our nearest recycling depot
I make sure there’s a container just for used batteries and it’s labelled.
We have a container for them and when it is full we bring them to a recycling center.
We have a container in the basement to collect our old batteries. When it gets full, my husband brings it to work with him because they have a battery bin that gets taken regularly for recycling.
We collect old batteries in a bag and then when we remember we take them to somewhere like London Drugs to recycle. We have also recently taken some old phone and camera batteries to our local recycling depot.
I put them in a bag until I have enough to make a trip to recycle them. The problem was that I wasn’t sure where to take them! Thanks for that information and thank you for the great giveaway!!
We put our used batteries in baggies and then in a paper bag and deliver them to a recycling centre! Thank you for the giveaway and for the recycling locations, close to our home! 🙂
We save them and take them to the recycling place a couple times a year.
We have a container – ice cream container – handy in the kitchen and everyone knows what to do.
We have a box that we gather old batteries in and when we fill it we take it to the depo.
There is a box in my house where family can properly dispose old batteries.
I keep a container in my hall closet to put the old batteries that need to be recycled.
We have battery recycling drop boxes at our local rec centres. They also have a couple of times a year where the garbage pick up includes battery pick up (leave in a bag on top of your garbage bin)!
Our family knows to look for the heavy duty ziploc bag at the back of the house and every time I do a run up to our local London Drugs the batteries come with me. I love the initiatives London Drugs is taking to help collect our waste that we would otherwise be unsure of what to do with.
We have a plastic box to store dead batteries. Hubby usually tapes the ends of the 9 volt ones. Once we have a box full we take them to a retailer who accepts them.
We save them to box, and when it’s full, we bring it to the recycling center.
We’ve dropped off our used batteries for awhile now. I have a little plastic bucket that gets taken away once it’s full.
I actually drop our batteries off in my office battery recycle box.
For the most part we try to use reusable batterys but if not we drop our batterys off at local recycling place.
We stop in regularly at London Drugs to properly recycles batteries there
We take our batteries to our local library for recycling.
We recycle our batteries through a recycling program at my office.
I ensure we properly recycles batteries by leaving a container in the kitchen that is easy to access, not to mention a lecture once in a while.