Tired, grumpy and uncommunicative after a long and dreary day, my boyfriend Toby and I sat in my flat and decided to watch something on his laptop. Flashing in the corner of the screen, an icon told us the battery was low and needed to be connected to a charger.

Reluctantly we tag teamed to get the charger attached from our seats: Toby passing the wire toward me, and I fulfilling my role to plug it into a power socket. A simple enough routine, which felt  like the world’s most energy sucking task when all you want to do is watch crap TV.

However, our efforts were met with disappointing resistance, when the battery icon continued to flash its warning. The charger was not working. We tested out the socket. Fine. We checked the connection. Fine. The laptop charger was caput. Yet another electrical item that’s met its demise and is ready to go to the landfill.

But hey ho, luckily we had a spare and our evening viewing could continue, uninterrupted.

Continue reading Did you have a Short Fuse for electrical waste? →