Monthly Archives: June 2012

How to Recycle Cell Phone Batteries

I had a problem the other day. I realized that the battery on my cell phone was swelling. That’s not a good sign. Easy enough to notice, as suddenly the back of my cell phone was popping open constantly. So I bought a new cell phone battery, and all appears to be well. Except I’ve got this battery I know you aren’t supposed to throw in the trash, although most people do. So I decided to look up how to recycle cell phone batteries.

It’s really easy to find a place to recycle them, although not everyone will have a place that’s close. Many office stores take them. Same for many Radio Shack locations. But if you’re in doubt, sites such as Call2Recycle and 1-800-Recycling make this really easy. All I had to do was hand the battery over at the front counter.

This works for many kinds of electronic waste, in fact, not just batteries. Some electronics have a fee associated with their recycling, but other items are free to recycle. I know paying to do the right thing with old electronics isn’t much fun, but it’s important. Most electronics really don’t belong in the trash. In fact, a recycling fee may be collected in California at the time of sale of certain monitors, rather than at the time of recycling.

Thinking Over a Green Summer

I’m watching my husband and oldest daughter in the garden today. They’re planting some aloe vera we bought the other day. I have fond memories of aloe vera from my childhood, as my skin has always sunburned easily. My kids tan like their father, but aloe is still good to have around. We also have some swallows nesting on our house for the first time ever. I’ve heard that can be messy, but they’ve picked pretty good spots so far as I’m concerned (not near any doors), and will hopefully help control our hornet problem.

It’s a good start to the summer.

We have a lot of plans this summer. Camping in Yosemite is the big one and I can hardly wait for my kids to see it. Yosemite is very special to my husband, and it has been far too many years since he has been there.

I’m preparing the kids for all the hiking by taking regular family walks. Now that school is out, I want to take regular walks in the morning to the local park, about a mile each way, and mostly uphill on the way there. Given summer temps around here, these have to be in the morning. I don’t want to do a lot of walking in 100+ degrees F weather, and that’s what we get pretty often here during the summer. I bought some Blue Lizard sunscreen to help ward off sunburn.

That will also be a part of their tradeoff for TV/computer time. They have to play outside to earn time sitting in front of a screen.

I’m working on Mylar covers for some of my windows. Now Mylar is rather ugly, so I’ve added some white tissue paper on the parts visible from outside, so the homeowner’s association won’t give me any trouble if anyone notices. It’s mostly back windows anyhow, but with the white facing out, it’s not that different in appearance from the white backing of some of my curtains. Or so I hope. I can really tell which windows I’ve done, and even with the tissue paper, the Mylar seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping the heat out. From the inside, of course, the curtains hide it.