With the move back to Standard Time upon use, it is time to do some additional chores.  It is time to think about the safety of you and your family and also take an extra step to protect our environment.

A national campaign sponsored in part by the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends that each fall, when you set your clocks back to standard time, that you also change the batteries in you smoke detector.  The idea is that a regularly changed, fresh battery in a
smoke detector will help prevent accidental deaths caused by fires.  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.

Not only is it a good idea to change that battery in the smoke detector, let’s all take one more step to recycle that battery!  According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, “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 do not enter our environment and contaminate our water.  Recycling can allow these metals to be collected and reused.  On average each person in the US discards 8 household batteries a year.  With the US Census Bureau estimating that the population of Benton County at about 196,000 - that could mean that we are possibly throwing away 1.5 million batteries in Benton County that could be recycled!  While you may think that the heavy metals in that small battery might not be much, thinking about the larger picture of 1.5 million is eye opening.

Drop of sites for recycling of household batteries are not available in all parts of the state, but fortunately in Benton County there are two different locations.  You can drop off your batteries for recycling at Haz-M.E.R.T. in Rogers or the Siloam Springs Transfer & Recycling Center.

If you would like more information on recycling or water quality, please visit the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service website at www.uaex.edu and click on Natural Resources.


Trish Ouei, CHES
CEA - Urban Stormwater Educator
Benton County Extension Office
Ph # 479-271-1060
Fax # 479-271-5713