I threw away two batteries yesterday. I know, I know—it's almost the same as chopping down like five old-growth oak trees or something, but it was just so damn easy. And what else are you gonna do with dead batteries? That's exactly why I am jazzed about this Energy Seed concept by Sungwoo Park. You collect all the batteries that no longer power your digital cameras, baby toys and TV remotes, and you deposit them in the base of this lamp. The lamp then glows, because even a mostly spent battery will be able to power an ultra-efficient light source. Park seems to think this is only a temporary solution, saying:
Of course once the bins are full, we’re left with the same original problem. Somebody has to collect all those spent batteries and recycle them.
But I say, that's just pessimism, Sungwoo—if you get some hippy cities like SF and Seattle to install these as points of collection, people would participate and the recycling would get done. Seriously, in this world of half-baked ideas, this one makes a lot of sense to me. Now, to go dig those dead D-cells out of my trash. [Yanko Design]