Old cell phones. Photo via David Ohmer

Got some old batteries laying around the house or office. Well, here’s your chance to get rid of them in an environmentally-friendly way. Today is the City of Seattle’s first-ever Battery Recycling Day, with residents encouraged to take old batteries found in cellphones, laptops and cordless power tools to Seattle Center’s International Fountain until 6 p.m. Thursday.

“In the state of Washington, Call2Recycle collected over 230,000 pounds of waste batteries in 2011 – up over 14 percent from 2010. The eco-safe reclamation and recycling of batteries is an easy and important part of Seattle’s ongoing recycling and waste recovery success. And, all Seattle residents and businesses are encouraged to take part,” said Tim Croll, Solid Waste Director at Seattle Public Utilities.

Call2Recycle — operated by the non-profit Rechargeable Battery Recyling Corp. — recently conducted a survey in which it found that more than half of Americans are holding on to old gadgets. The recycling program is free, and the organization accepts all rechargeable batteries weighing up t0 eleven pounds. It also accepts cell phones with or without batteries.

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