Saturday, Nov 15

Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better.

Dear Dot,

I love my battery-driven leaf blower, string trimmer, and snow blower, but after what doesn't seem like that long (it's probably been five years of use), I've got a battery that will no longer hold a charge.

First question: How long should one of these batteries retain the ability to recharge? How much is that related to how it’s stored?

Second question (even though one was two): What is the responsible way to recycle or dispose of these batteries?

– Bob

Dear Bob,

Dot is delighted that you are embracing battery-powered tools around your home, reducing not only carbon pollution (gas-powered tools emit more pollutants than a pick-up truck, according to a study!) but also noise. Gas-powered leaf blowers produce enough noise to damage hearing. And they most definitely annoy your neighbors.

Dot remains firmly in the leave-the-leaves camp, and so it falls (lol) to Mr. Dot to mow and blow (and, when the time comes, de-snow). 

Thus, lacking expertise, I turned to Kevin Carroll, who is such a home gear enthusiast that he created an entire site dedicated to testing and reviewing what’s out there. Indeed, he pointed me to a comprehensive post about the best battery-powered lawn tools that anyone considering purchasing (or replacing) should check out. 

For Kevin’s advice on both extending the life of your batteries and disposing of them responsibly when they eventually die, read on.

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