We live in a time when so many things run on battery power. From our cars to our cell phones, it seems everything uses a battery. And that means that those batteries will inevitably need to be replaced. So, what do you do with the old batteries? Before you simply throw them out, it’s important to realize that doing so can cause serious environmental damage. Fortunately, there’s an alternative.

Instead of tossing your batteries in the trash, opt to recycle them. Doing so helps mitigate the negative impact on the environment in several ways, including:

Keeping waterways clean

Keeping the air clean (when landfills are burned, metal components are released into the air, causing pollution).

Preventing the leeching of toxic heavy metals into the soil in the landfill and surrounding area, something that can cause short- and long-term health issues. Also, recycling prevents the release of lead into the soil, which can contaminate produce grown in the soil and the animals and humans who consume that produce

Now that you understand the “why” of recycling your batteries, let’s discuss the “how.” Generally speaking, anywhere that sells batteries will also provide services for recycling them. If that’s the case, all you have to do is bring your depleted or expired batteries back to them for recycling. They will recycle the batteries for you and charge you a small fee for the service. If you can’t find such a depository for batteries, another course of action is to contact your city’s municipal waste department. They probably have a battery recycling program designed for just this purpose, and they can give you the information you need. Failing that, there are companies such as Sure Power that offer dedicated services for recycling batteries.

Whichever option you use for recycling your batteries, be sure you are choosing a service that specializes in the type of battery you need to recycle. For example, car batteries need to be recycled at a location that specializing in car battery recycling. Why? It’s because they contain large amounts of acid and lead, two substances that must be managed in a particular way to ensure safety. The same is true of rechargeable batteries, which contain nickel cadmium, which can be at risk of leaking into the environment and having a negative ecological impact if handled improperly.

If you have a lithium battery, such as the kind commonly used in laptop computers, you can easily dispose of these yourself. No special considerations are necessary.

If you aren’t sure how your particular type of battery needs to be responsibly disposed, a quick online search will give you all of the information you need. In fact, manufacturers of most cell phones and other types of consumer products will provide battery recycling information right on their websites for your reference. In addition, it may even be possible to get manufacturer discounts on future purchases as a result of recycling your batteries.