If you hesistate to toss your batteries in to the trash, you are thinking ‘green’. The challenge that I see with many of my clients is that they dont want to toss thier old batteries into the trash but they dont have any idea what to do with them.
Here is one strategy: Store your old batteries in a container and when it’s full, take them to your local Staples.
If you have any really old batteries made before 1997, please do not ever put them straight into the trash. 1997 is when Congress mandated a widespread mercury phase-out in batteries of all types. All of these older batteries may contain as much as 10 times the mercury of newer versions.
Regardless of their age, even the newer batteries still contain trace amounts of mercury and other potentially toxic stuff so they should also be recycled.
You can also get more bang for your buck and reduce battery waste by using rechargable batteries.