CFN – I was in the downtown area this past week and happened across a double A battery at the curb (see below) where I was parked. It had obviously been run over and squished by a passing vehicle. This find was somewhat alarming as this is considered hazardous waste and out of consideration for our soil and water health consideration needs to be given in how this used item is disposed. Used batteries are considered hazardous waste and need to be taken to a designated hazardous waste disposal site in your community.
All it takes is a phone call to a business that deals in the product you are now trying to dispose of. For example, do you have a car battery that has come to the end of its life? I do, so I called a local car service business, Beverly Tires. They will take my battery and insure it is recycled/disposed of, with our community health in mind. How great is that? A further call to my local Staples store found that they collect and dispose of used batteries from the general public, 365 days a year in a safe manner which insures that the less than earth friendly byproducts from such products are kept from our soil, air and water.Computers and small electronic devices abound now a days. Your old devices do not belong curbside. PLEASE help your community and future generations by insuring responsible steps are taken to properly dispose of these devices and the power devices to run them once you have finished with them.
We at Earth Matters have always encouraged people to repurpose their used items by donating them to a local charity. We continue to see far too many items put out for garbage that still have a useful life. It has come to our attention that Local Non-Profit organizations are spending a substantial amount of their resources to rid themselves of donations which have obviously outlived their usefulness or healthfulness and must be allocated to a landfill site.
In an effort to help these organizations make the best use of their resources we offer the following suggestions. Call before giving. Call the organization you plan to give to. Insure they can use what you have to offer. If they don’t need it, perhaps another organization has the need. If you are giving a donation of clothing, kindly insure it is laundered and wearable. If you have items torn and stained, please call to see if these items are useful to them. If there are drop boxes in your community, insure items are placed in the drop boxes and not outside the box. Leaving items outside the box invites people to rifle through the items and leaves the items at the mercy of the weather of the day. Items soiled by environmental conditions are no longer useful to the organization which then costs them valuable resources to dispose of these left items. I think we all would like to be of help to our community, so a brief phone call or e-mail to your designated non-profit will insure your loving gesture is making a real difference.
Your commentary is welcome and always appreciated below or to earthmatters@cornwallfreenews.com
