I finally changed the batteries in my doorbell. After 2.5 years and begging from my friends, I thought it was time. After changing the wireless doorbell and the button, I was left with five (!!!) dead batteries and the quandry: what to do with them? After all, one shouldn't throw them away and who wants to garden a drawer of used batteries? Here's where the drug store comes to the rescue!
I know from my ramblings through the city that DM, a chain drug store, accepts recyclable items like paper, plastic, light bulbs, batteries, and even empty metal deodorant spray cans. I would assume that one couldn't bring a household's worth of these items at one time, but no one blinked as I popped in the five batteries and at a different time, four light bulbs. So, there you go. DMs are reasonably easy to find, since they're a chain. Of course, if that doesn't work, you can always check with your city/town to special disposal collection points.
---
So, I'm not 100% sure if, by my Michigan computations, that DM is actually a drug store since the it don't really sell drugs. Yes, you read that right: if you need a prescription, or even just an Advil, you must visit an Apotheke (pharmacy) in Germany. If you want things like deodorant, hand lotion, toothpaste, photo developing, and other health and beauty goods, you visit a drogerie markt (or a mega store, such as Globus) here.
However, I'm sticking to the drug store name because that's what we call such places in Michigan (though usually they come with drugs - the legal ones, y'know). Is that a regional thing or what these stores are called throughout the US?
A lot of stores have some box for batteries, I've seen it at real and Penny. But I think dm is the only one that takes lightbulbs.
ReplyDeleteOur Real takes lightbulbs, too. Wisconsin is too close to Michigan for this response to be helpful, but we call those stores "drug stores", too. For Wisconsinites drug store and pharmacy are basically synonyms because all pharmacies also have all that other stuff as well.
ReplyDelete