In a technology-driven world, people throw away billions of batteries a year, which can leak chemicals or start fires in landfills. Sri Nihal Tammana, 15, of Monroe Township, New Jersey, wants to change that. In 2019, he started Recycle My Battery, a nonprofit that collects used batteries. The organization has now recycled more than 500,000 of them.
Q: Where did the idea for this organization come from?
A: I saw a news article about a lithium-ion battery exploding in a waste disposal plant in California. I saw the fires, I saw the pollution. It broke my heart.
Q: What’s your work like?
A: We do battery drives and create blogs and awareness videos. We speak at school assemblies. I’m working on an app. And I’m always reaching out for partnership opportunities so we can take this to the next level.
Q: What’s been the best part of this experience?
A: When people say to me, “I was inspired to start my own organization after seeing you.”
Q: What do you tell other young people?
A: Doing something small in the world still makes you a changemaker. You did something to contribute to solving an even bigger problem. If we can come together as a team, we can make the Earth a better place.