Girl power!

So this isn’t a post about the spice girls.

I’ve gone kind of retro though.

We try our best to use rechargeable devices and rechargeable batteries as much as possible.

Recently I decided that we had too many non-rechargeable battery dependent devices about the place. So I vowed that if a battery device broke I’d aim to get one without batteries if possible.

First in the quest was the digital kitchen scale.

It had had a battery a few times but then it actually committed suicide by throwing itself on the kitchen floor.

Replacement No 1

Spring loaded kitchen scale.

This scale requires no power. It only weighs up to 500g but that’s good enough for me.

Curiously the next item was the bathroom scale. This also used one of those 9 volt rectangular batteries. They’re possible to replace with rechargeable but they’re not common.

I’ve seen the impact that discarded batteries have on the ocean. A patch of seabed dies around the rusting, leaking shell.

Replacement No 2

The answer to this was a scavenger hunt. I tracked down a spring driven replacement in a second hand shop. It was recycled too in that case. It needed cleaning but it weighs me just fine. No electricity required.

Another not quite battery item that we use a lot is a vegetable chopper. Great for herbs etc but it relies on the mains.

Replacement Number 3
We found a hand driven replacement that’s quite handy. It has a string mechanism that you pull to create a force. This spins a blade that chops the herbs etc.

So it’s powered by human effort which I also like!

Now a long standing issue I’ve had is with my wrist watch. It seems to need a new battery too regularly. So I’ve debated long and hard whether to keep the watch until it breaks or find another option.

At the watch shop the answer came.

Replacement Number 4

A kinetic watch. The watch shop had a kinetic watch on sale. It was reduced by 94 euros! The battery price for my old watch was significant enough for is to make the decision. It’s also powered by human effort and doesn’t require a battery.

The last example for now is my alarm clock. It’s been in a bad way for a while having been knocked off the bedside table way too many times.

It’s like the song says:

Waking up is hard to do!

Replacement Number 5

I checked my bedside cabinet and found an alarm clock I had years ago. It was one that can be wound up. No investment, no batteries, no effort required. Recycling of sorts!