Have a dead battery? Don’t throw it away, because you can now conveniently recycle it here on campus! CLU has just been added as the newest location of the Thousand Oaks Household Battery Recycling Program! We are the thirteenth public location within the greater Thousand Oaks Community where any resident can drop off their household batteries. This means that CLU students, faculty and staff will have extremely, easy access to the drop off bin, which is inside of the Student Union Building (SUB). The blue recycling bin is located on the wall across from the water fountains and next to the newspaper stand.
Batteries of all sizes, AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9 Volt, and all other batteries, both rechargeable and single use, can be recycled in this bin.
Why is battery recycling important?
-All of the batteries previously listed are considered hazardous waste in California when they are thrown away.
-Nearly 3 billion batteries are purchased each year; Americans throw out about 179,000 tons of batteries per year.
-Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel. Recycling batteries keeps these heavy metals out of landfills, lakes, streams, and air, and inevitably, out of your body.
-Recycling batteries also saves resources because recovered plastic and metals can be used to make new batteries (EPA).
Want to find out more information? Here are some links:
http://www.toaks.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=16854
http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/batteries.php
With this new battery bin, our campus will be playing an active role to make a positive impact on the environment, just by simply throwing batteries in their own separate bin. Please start spreading the word to let others know that CLU is taking this great step towards sustainability. And start saving up those batteries and take them to the SUB!
Submitted by
Kayla Kilpatrick ’11
Sustainability Team Leader
clugrowinggreen@clunet.edu