Battery Waste Collection Drive
We celebrated World Earth Day in 2009 by distributing glass bottles marked ‘Battery Collection Bottles’ among our club members. This was done by participating in GoaCan’s Battery Waste Collection Drive – The Consumer Household Battery Collection Drive is a micro example of how Segregation At Source (SAS) can help Protect the Environment.
When batteries are disposed in garbage, heavy metals like cadmium, cobalt, copper, zinc, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, and lithium leach from the batteries that are deposited in landfills. This contaminates soil and water. All of these elements are potentially harmful to humans and the environment. For example, cadmium can cause lung damage, kidney disease, and death, and lead can damage the kidneys, nervous system, and reproductive system. Lead poisoning is also commonly diagnosed in cattle, and the death rate can be close to 20 percent. One of the more popular rechargeable batteries, nickel-cadmium, is also one of the most environmentally harmful. Besides the presence of cadmium, NiCd batteries, as well as nickel-metal hydride batteries, contain cobalt, which can cause asthma and pneumonia and is considered a possible human carcinogen. Even lithium, another element used in some rechargeable batteries and considered a more environmentally benign substance, can produce acid rain when present in salt form and is a suspected kidney and liver toxicant.
Also Read: Rechargeable batteries can be big danger
Update (Feb 2010): The 2009-10 District Governor Rtn. Gurudatta D. Bhakta has appreciated this project during his official visit to our club.
