It’s National Battery Check Week!

I’m on several lists of press people, thanks to my magazine columns. That means I get lots of press releases, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. Today’s is probably the most interesting one I’ve ever gotten: turns out that 26-30 April is National Battery Check Week (the 6th annual celebration, no less!) The press release calls it “a national call-to-action that encourages consumers to check the rechargeable batteries that power their cordless products, and if they can no longer hold a charge, to recycle them”. This is undoubtedly a great idea, given what’s in the batteries: cadmium, nickel, lithium, and so on, none of which you want in your bloodstream or organs. Home Depot, Lowe’s, and other major retailers have put out battery-recycling boxes; the press release also mentions that ReCellular is working with them on a nationwide effort to recycle old cellphones, which are then refurbished and resold (a portion of the profits go to charity).
The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation is behind this celebration of portable electrical goodness; oddly, their home page makes no mention of what should by rights be a national holiday. On the other hand, they do have a picture of Richard Karn on their page, so it’s not a total waste of electrons. They also have commercials and a school lesson plan that you can download. Who would have guessed there was so much recycling goodness just a few clicks away? (Note to the flacks who sent me the release: next time, send it before the week starts, would ya?)