Electronics

Rechargeable Batteries
Until just recently I have considered rechargeable batteries to be a big pain in the, um, neck. I used them, but reluctantly. They did not last very long, needed increasingly more recharging, and were just plain annoying. They were especially problematic with my digital camera - they seemed to last only a day or so before needing recharging. I am clearly not the most patient person in the world, but they made living a more sustainable life feel like a hardship rather than a good thing.

However, this past spring the heavens parted, the angels sang and the answer to all of my battery prayers came to me in the form of eneloop Rechargeable Batteries from Sanyo.

I love them. They come fully charged, which is incredibly convenient. They last a long, long time - I've had two in my camera for weeks now, and have still not had to recharge it. And unlike their large, cumbersome predecessors, the chargers are small and compact - they're smaller than the size of a pack of playing cards. Yes, they're a bit more expensive (as a comparison a Duracell AA 8-pack retails for $26.00, and the eneloop 8-pack retails for $40.00). At first glance, this seems gulp-worthy. However, I fully expect my eneloop batteries to last me YEARS, instead of the weeks or even days of the Duracell, which in the long run will save me money. I'll keep you posted - at A Passion for Green Business - on how these batteries work for me. They're still new on the market (just came out in spring '09) and so no one has had them for very long. Please see our "Why We Love Them" page for FAQ.  ~Alline