Brian Larter wrote this great little guide on rechargeable batteries. Thank you, Brian.
But still I have my gripes about upstream energy consumption and production. Are we just deceiving ourselves by not seeing the damage of energy production methods like coal. The best thing really to do is reduce consumption and use non-energy products.
Why use a PDA when we can use a diary produced from recycled paper? Why not just listen for danger in traffic coming from behind, or even better, the sound of nature on those bike rides instead of your music device? If something needs energy then it is still contributing to the problem.
Reduction – not more efficient technology – is the best method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More efficient energy use will only leads to more use because we can.
In short, buy less, use less.
signature103 
I absolutely agree. I just hope we think not only about the energy it consumes but also how much energy it took to produce it before we make that next purchase. In the mean time we should use what we already have (because throwing it away is also a waste) but when we have the chance we should replace it with a less energy consuming alternative.
LikeLike
You are so right about the reduction of energy consumption. It needs to be our main priority, but when things just can’t be replaced we need to make sure that we use the most energy efficient methods.
LikeLike