Bluetooth Devices and E Waste

[eljanitor]

I was recently changing the batteries in another Apple wireless keyboard, and I realized that they seem to go through batteries pretty quickly. I noticed on one machine, an iMac it goes through batteries about once a month. I keep going into the econo monster battery package to get new ones.

Soon after I grabbed the last pair for that keyboard I realized that this had something like 50 batteries in it and now its empty, and I just bought this 2 months ago? So last time I was at the electronics mega store I passed by the rechargeable batteries and thought seems like a good idea.

I never really thought about how many batteries we all go through in a year, and where they end up. Doing a mental inventory I thought what runs off of batteries in the home and office? There's the wireless keyboard(s) and mice, there's the TV remotes at home (although they usually dont go bad for months), and whatever else like a Wii ( they eat batteries monthly too). So that's two AA's or AAA's per device. All these batteries end up in the landfill eventually and that just can't be good in the long run. Even though it says do not throw away in trash right on them they always end up in the trash can. Unfortunately who doesn't just drop dead batteries in the trash without a second thought?

So it seems like a waste of money to keep buying batteries to always keep replacing them when I can just get a niflty battery charger or a few of them and just use rechargeable batteries. Plus it seems to be environmentally friendly.

Does anyone out there use rechargables? If so how often do you have to swap them out to recharge and what do you recommend?

 

[flopticalcube]

I would think the majority of people use rechargeables which is why Apple sells it's own recharger and batteries. I recharge once every two months on light to moderate use.

 

[MTI]

I use the Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables, which have a longer shelf life charge retention than normal NiMH batteries.

 

[eljanitor]

I was looking around the web and I found this site looks pretty cool. They even have solar chargers.http://www.greenbatteries.com/

 

[Tomorrow]

I never really thought about how many batteries we all go through in a year, and where they end up. Doing a mental inventory I thought what runs off of batteries in the home and office?

There's the wireless keyboard(s) and mice

Wired keyboard here. Logitech MX Revolution - rechargeable in its own dock.

...there's the TV remotes at home

Logitech Harmony - rechargeable in its own dock.

whatever else like a Wii ( they eat batteries monthly too)

Bought rechargeable battery packs and a charging dock for the Wiimotes. No more disposable batteries.

Unfortunately who doesn't just drop dead batteries in the trash without a second thought?

Most of my devices have built-in rechargeable batteries (camera, iPhone, etc.), but if I have a device whose batteries run dead then yeah, I throw them in the trash without a second thought.

So it seems like a waste of money to keep buying batteries to always keep replacing them when I can just get a niflty battery charger or a few of them and just use rechargeable batteries.

The real reason for using them, IMO.

Like you said, rechargeables are much cheaper in the long run, but they don't make sense in every kind of device. Use them where you can and you can save some cash.

 

[BlackViper]

Envelops are great

I've been using the Eneloop rechargeables for about a year and they are great. Don't last as long as good single use batteries but it's not much to switch them out when needed. I bought enough to supply all of my battery powered devices and a few more so that I always have some charged, ready to use. Costco had a pack that included a wall charger with a car adapter, some AAs, AAAs, and some sleeves to fit the AAs into a C or D socket. Apple, I hear, uses rebranded Eneloops for theirs, you could get the Apple charger and use it with Eneloops. One thing to note is that fast chargers will reduce the life of your batteries, it may be worthwhile to get a good charger (amazon carries them), though it depends how fast you go through batteries.