Dead Batteries

I have this thing about batteries. It is the ultimate example of my frugality. I don't know where I got this trait but I just can't stand thinking about having a battery that still has some power left in it. I want to know if the battery is COMPLETELY DEAD.

I found a way to solve part of this by powering my small transistor radio in my office with AAA batteries. I take any "low batteries" from the house and bring them to the office. There I run them completely out on my office radio. Over the years I have collected 200 dead batteries (just counted by Ellen).

Today Ellen came to my office for a day. I gave her the task of finding the dead batteries. I then looked to see where to recycle the old batteries. Unfortunately there is no place for the common household batteries to recycle. So into the dump they go.

32 BBBBBillion batteries are sold each year in the US. That is 10 batteries per person or 32 per family. The average person disposes of 8 batteries per year. Wow - based on my volume of batteries - we are a glutenous battery family!