Disposal of Batteries

In preparing for a talk to my colleagues this coming Friday that I have titled "Heaven and Earth - preserving our natural resources" as a follow up of my first talk on Saving the Earth, I have been searching the internet for information.

http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=electronics/bat_env.asp

I came across this great site called earth911 that really is a gold mine of educational resources that teachers can tap. It is also a good source of information of us to find out how we can be kinder to the earth by not wasting water and electricity, how to dispose of items that would harm the earth.

One of the questions that I've always had is how to dispose of used batteries. My instincts tell me that batteries should not be thrown into the trash but I did not know that when they are burned, the vapours from the metals can pollute lakes and streams amongst other hazards like exposing the environment to lead and acid. Also, batteries that end up in landfills and incinerators could leak into the environment and end up in the food chain.

I have a collection of used batteries and I need to know how to get rid of them here.

Lesson from Jiuzhaigou

This picturesque scene was taken in the Jiuzhaigou Valley in China that is famous for its beautiful lakes, ponds and waterfalls. Many Singaporeans have visited this place and everyone has come back to praise this fairyland on earth. I was there recently and can confirm that this is really a heaven on earth. Amazingly, even though there were hordes of tourists, the entire place was really litter free. I never saw rubbish of any kind or any size floating in the water or thrown around along the path that was well trampled by thousands of people a day. I'd like to think that it is partly because of trash bins like this coupled with people's love for nature or perhaps fear of authority hidden in their midst that resulted in the preservation of the environment in its natural state of cleanliness of beauty. It is said that "it takes two to tango" - in the preservation of the environment, the likely partners here must be the attitude of the visitor and the conscious effort of the authorities to provide and enforce the rules of nature.