Released October 31, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The move back to standard time on November 2 means an additional hour to do more chores, but "the chores I’m thinking about are easy and will safeguard you and your family and take an extra step to protect the environment," said Trish Ouei, urban stormwater educator with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
A national campaign sponsored in part by the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends that each fall, when Americans set their clocks back to standard time, that they also change the batteries in their smoke detectors.
"The idea is that a regularly changed, fresh battery in a smoke detector will help prevent accidental deaths caused by fires," she said. "In its 21st year of operation, this national campaign brings a very important safety issue to our attention again. And let’s face it; we could all use a reminder to change the batteries in our smoke detectors."
It’s also a good idea to recycle that battery. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and nickel, which can contaminate the environment when batteries are improperly disposed of."
While throwing batteries away in your household trash is allowed, you may not have known that batteries can be recycled.
Recycling your batteries can help ensure that these heavy metals don’t enter the environment and contaminate water supplies.
"Recycling can allow these metals to be collected and reused," says Ouei. "On average, each person in the U.S. discards eight household batteries a year. Arkansas residents throw away millions of batteries each year that could be recycled."
Drop off sites for recycling of household batteries are not available in all parts of the state. You can find recycling centers in Pulaski County by going to http://www.regionalrecycling.org and selecting your city and then look under Household Chemical Collection.
For more information on recycling or water quality, visit http://www.uaex.edu and select Natural Resources. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
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http://www.uaex.edu/news/october2008/1031recycle.htm
Contact: Lamar James, (501) 671-2187, ljames@uaex.edu
