Switch to an LED or solar-powered flashlight
Why This is Green
By choosing an eco-friendlier flashlight the next time you head into the woods, pack a kid off to camp, or outfit a car or a home with an emergency preparedness kit, you’ll save energy, some cash, and reduce the amount of batteries you use and eventually dispose of. Batteries contain heavy metals like mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel, and are often disposed of improperly; when incinerated they pollute the air and waterways, and they leach slowly in landfills, also harming the environment.
Most flashlights being sold as eco tend to have small internal rechargeable batteries that get charged either by sunlight, hand-cranking, pulling a cord, or manually shaking—not electricity. These batteries are usually both smaller than and last longer than conventional or rechargeable batteries – think a coin or a triple A versus a C or a D. The less you need, the more money you save. The EPA says Americans purchase nearly 3 billion dry-cell batteries every year to power things like radios toys, cellular phones, watches, laptop computers, and portable power tools. Dry cell batteries contribute about 88 percent of the total mercury and 50 percent of the cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream.
Beyond saving some electricity and using smaller and fewer batteries, eco-flashlights tend to have energy efficient LED light bulbs. Some are made of post-consumer plastic and even sustainably harvested wood.
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How To
Seek out a flashlight that works for your purposes. When the time comes to dispose of a battery, take care to do it according to your municipality’s mandates.
