This is such a great idea it must already be happening and I haven’t seen it yet.  Did you know that it is against the law in California to throw used batteries in the trash?  You are supposed to recycle them.  It makes sense, they contain acid and who knows what else.  But how are we supposed to recycle them?  This idea helps to answer that question and to make it much more easy to recycle.

Battery companies or battery recycling companies could distribute printed ziplock bags.  Maybe to school kids maybe as a handout where batteries are sold.  The bags would have contact information for finding a recycler in your area and would make it convenient to do so.  Here is a mockup:

Some benefits that would accrue to the company that does this first are:

1. Positive publicity, lots of it.
2. Corporate pride for doing the right thing.
3. Enviro stuff to point at to keep the regulators at bay.
4. An advertisement in peoples homes to help increase sales.

I am so green I look like a tree.