Americans throw away 84,000 tons of alkaline batteries a year. That is 38,640,000 AA batteries that will be dropped at the landfill. Reducing the hazardous waste in landfills starts at home. Millions of households are producing billions of pounds of solid waste which are leaching toxic chemicals waste into our earth. One rechargeable battery will replace up to 300 throwaway batteries.
The BP oil spill is hundreds of miles away for us, yet the oil spill is killing our sea life by the millions. Sea turtles are killed by the hundreds just by our store bags that are blown by the wind which land on our shores, their environment.
Think of the four R`s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore. We have taken steps here at Manchaca Road Animal Hospital to reuse, recycle and restore our materials. We take twenty to thirty cardboard boxes to the recycle center each week. Many, that if one were moving, could be reused. We drop off old batteries at South Austin Batteries Plus++ so they will not go to the landfill. Rachel drops off our plastic bottles at the recycle center. Dr Walker asks, “How does your article apply to Manchaca Road Animal Hospital?” Well, how does it not apply?
Let’s Rethink… Why think Green? Less trash on our Earth means less trash in our community. It’s that simple.