Lost: One AC adapter

by MotherBumper

If you are anything like me, you go through many, many batteries with all the devices in the home. All of our remotes burn through them at an alarming rate, especially the Wii. The Wii paddles eat AA size batteries like I eat all chocolate in my path: FAST. One of my digital cameras uses six and my beloved label maker (how I love you label maker) takes four AA size.

To counteract and relieve my guilt in throwing out caustic substances, we use rechargables. We have tried a variety of different brands and charger combinations but recently we misplaced the AC adapter for our largest multi-size/multi-brand charging unit. This is so frustrating because we have a good supply of rechargables and no way to charge them. To add to the annoyance (beside the fact that I KNOW the charger is somewhere in our home), the company that made the charger is no longer available at the chain where we purchased it and we haven’t been able to locate an alternative supplier. We will end up buying a new charging unit so we won’t waste our batteries but based on our track record and pack-rat tendencies, I think we should look for an alternative solution.

This week I found out about an alternative to our charger woes; a cool rechargeable battery that has a convenient twist on existing chargers is on the market. The USBCELL can be plugged into any powered USB port to recharge. Think about it: no need to search for the charger device, no pesky cables hanging around, and no need to locate a free wall power outlet. We have a computer with powered USB ports available for charging. It seems like a perfect solution for us.

I love the fact that the batteries are NiMH so I can use them in the digital camera without any fear of over heating. They also can be charged in approved NiMH Chargers (great for doing bulk charging). A set of two AA size are reasonably priced at approximately 20.00 CAD.

The company also makes AAA, 9 volt and phone sizes in addition to some other battery sizes and they ship to Canada.

I can’t wait to try them out and I’ll update you on how they worked for me.

To find out more about rechargeable NiHM and Li-ion batteries, check out Green Batteries website.

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I’ve lived in Toronto for six years and in that time I’ve married, become a mom and tried to improve my impact on the planet by living a more sustainable lifestyle, all done with some success. My background is in IT and I have a degree in Psychology. That either tells you everything or nothing at all.