With social development, the amount of hazardous waste in people's lives is increasing. During interviews, reporters found that despite the ever-growing quantity of hazardous waste, most people lack awareness and the means to safely dispose of it.
Disposing of used batteries is not easy
Many people have experience disposing of used batteries.
One male interviewee told reporters that he often travels for work. When traveling, he usually brings used batteries to the airport and puts them in the battery box before security check.
One female interviewee told reporters that she donated her discarded computer batteries and other used batteries to the school's low-carbon charity station in exchange for small potted plants, which made her feel that what she did was meaningful and valuable.
However, many respondents found it quite difficult to dispose of used batteries.
Liu Jin (pseudonym) is a college student. In his daily life, he usually collects used batteries in a small drawer. However, as the number of used batteries increases, Liu Jin feels helpless and embarrassed.
"My parents have repeatedly advised me to throw away the used batteries, but I think we should find a more environmentally friendly way to dispose of them. However, there aren't many good ways to dispose of these used batteries in daily life," Liu Jin said.
Liu Jin's final choice was to put the batteries in nylon bags and sell them together with the scrap metal.
Zhang Qian (pseudonym), who works at an internet company, faces the same problem. He has seven or eight boxes of used batteries at home, including many nickel-cadmium batteries and a large number of mercury-containing carbon-zinc batteries. He once wanted to do some environmental protection work, so he collected some used batteries, but found that there was no suitable way to dispose of them, and now they have become a hot potato.
"It feels like a thankless task. Throwing it away now might cause more pollution than not picking it up in the first place," Zhang Qian said.
Zhao Yu (pseudonym) took a different approach than the two mentioned above. She searched online and found that there were companies in Beijing and Guangdong that could recycle used batteries, and she found their addresses, phone numbers and other contact information.
"Unfortunately, these companies only offer free door-to-door collection if the used batteries reach a certain quantity and weight, so I ended up having to mail them myself," Zhao Yu said, adding that she felt somewhat helpless and dissatisfied.
Mercury-containing thermometers are difficult to handle
What should you do if you have expired medicine? When faced with this question, most respondents' first reaction was: "What else can you do but throw it away?" or "Isn't it just thrown away?"...
During the interviews, the reporter found that people are not as aware of the safe disposal of expired medicines as they are of the disposal of used batteries.
Qian Jian (pseudonym) told reporters that he has a basic sense of safety when it comes to expired medicines, and he will not sell them to drug dealers. Therefore, he usually chooses to destroy the packaging and information of the medicines before throwing them away as garbage.
"This is a positive action to protect the lives and health of others," Qian Jian said.
Because her father is a doctor, Zhang Ting (pseudonym) and her family have chosen different approaches when dealing with different medications.
“My dad believes that as long as some topical medications haven’t expired for long and haven’t spoiled, they can still be used as normal medications,” Zhang Ting said.
For liquid medicines such as eye drops and oral solutions, Zhang Ting chooses to pour them down the drain separately without mixing them. As for medicines such as vitamin C, vitamin B, and vitamin B1, even if they are expired, Zhang Ting will crush them, dilute them with water, and spray them on the foliage plants.
"This not only makes the leaves greener, but also repels and prevents insects," Zhang Ting said.
Zhao Yu told reporters that she would look for a special expired medicine recycling station in the community to put the medicine there. If the community did not have such facilities, she would consult with pharmacies. Some pharmacies directly accepted Zhao Yu's expired medicines and promised to dispose of them.
Regarding the disposal of thermometers, the vast majority of respondents said they were unaware of the process or treated them as ordinary household waste.
Li Min (pseudonym) told reporters that she once broke a mercury thermometer. She immediately wiped it with a tablecloth, swept it with a broom, and ventilated the room, but the effect did not seem to be very good. The mercury would disappear as soon as it touched the thermometer, turning into smaller particles.
Left with no other option, Li Min began searching online for solutions.
"I learned a method to use a sponge dipped in milk to absorb small drops of mercury, and it works quite well," Li Min said.
Other interviewees told reporters that they took unbroken but unusable mercury thermometers to community hospitals. "We believe the community hospitals will have appropriate channels to handle them."
