In my opinion one of the easiest things you can do today that’s also great for the planet is to invest in rechargeable batteries. Not only do you reduce the waste that either ends up in landfills or has to be recycled, but you also save money in the long run. My favorite has been eneloop batteries (a NiMH application), and we’ve completed a transition of our household to these. If you’re new to this, start with the starter kit pictured here, as includes a charger, a selection of AA and AAA batteries, and adapter pieces to use AA batteries in place of ‘C’ or ‘D’ batteries.
Why do I like eneloop? Reasonable cost, more than 1500 charge cycles, and they hold their charge a long time when not in use. I’ve been using them for over a year now and have had no complaints, it’s a good product and worth checking out. I just wish they’d make rechargeable 9 volt batteries for all the smoke detectors in our house! I found some by Tenergy that look promising, though I have not yet tested them for long term use in smoke detectors…that’s my next battery project.
If you’re not convinced and are instead wondering which disposable battery is best, check out batteryshowdown for some comparison tests of those.