The EcoChic

Like most parents our house is littered with kids toys that require batteries.  You can’t celebrate a birthday or a holiday without obtaining a few more of those e-toys that are suppose to make your child smarter.  My baby alone is sleeping with 3 stuffed animals that require batteries to send her off to sleepy town more peacefully.  We have a special basket in our pantry that stores all of those excess batteries so that we never have to deal with ‘dead’ toys.  I even have 2 battery chargers and about 8 rechargeable batteries…however they are always dead when I need to use them!  My son hates it when a toy actually dies because he knows it is usually months before I actually replace the batteries.  Seriously…he has a set of walkie talkies that have never had batteries…and he uses his imagination to make them work!  Shocking I know…but we survived this way as kids, so can he! 

Inevitably we all require batteries in our home to make things work.  From the Wii remotes to the digital cameras; there isn’t much that doesn’t need batteries.  What is the most eco-friendly way to deal wtih batteries?  I’ve been on a rechargeable battery kick for a few years now but like I mentioned earlier they are always dead.  I’ve either used them until they run out of juice or they loose their ability to hold a charge.  After all, even rechargeable batteries are only made to be charged around 100+ times.  Well we all have a new option available…

Fuji EnviroMAX!

Most batteries (even rechargeables) contain heavy metals such as cadmium, lithium and mercury which can be poisonous to our health and very harmful to our environment.  The Environmental Protection Agency even classifies batteries as a Universal Waste (a type of hazardous waste) and requires that they be disposed of properly (and not sent to the landfill).  The company I work for actually has a battery recycling program in place to ensure that we act responsibly. 

Fuji EnviroMAX is different!  The contain NO poisonous cadmium, lithium or mercury!  They are packaged in recycled paper and recycleable PET plastic.  They can be harmlessly disposed of with your normal waste.  None of the ingredients are harmful to the environment.  They are landfill safe.  Lastly, they perform equal to (if not better than) traditional batteries so you don’t need to purchase them as often. 

I’ve mentioned ISO 14001 in a previous post.  ISO 14001 certification ensures that a business operates in an environmentally friendly manner and that they are regularly audited by an outside company to ensure their conformance with the ISO 14001 standards.  The Fuji EnviroMAX manufacturing facility is ISO 14001 certified.  They strive to achieve a zero emissions manufacturing process and currently recycle waste at a 93.3% rate.  You can read their full Social and Environmental Report HERE to learn more. 

How do they work?  I received two sets of Fuji EnviroMAX batteries, the AA and AAA digital alkaline batteries, for review.  I put some in our Wii remotes (because they are always dying) and the rest went in Lil’ Bs bedtime toy (it plays sleepy music and has a soft light) about a month and a half ago.  I really wanted to see if I could tell a difference in these batteries compared to traditional batteries and rechargeable batteries.  Let me tell you…they are still working today!  My boy plays the Wii like a crazy addicted crack addict…and they still have juice!  Every night Lil’ B goes to bed with her little lullaby toy…and it still has juice!  I’m a believer and on our next trip to the store I will stock up on the Fuji EnviroMAX. 

Where can you buy them?  Starting over the summer Fuji EnviroMAX can now be found at Target stores nationwide.  You can also purchase them at Amazon.com, just click on the link on the Fuji EnviroMAX website and make your purchase.  They retail for $3.99-5.99 MSRP. 

To learn more about Fuji EnviroMAX:
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