" the kids arent the hold outs! how do you convince the wife/mother some of the toys from the last seven years of her babies lives need to go ? "

" napadad-
My mom's the total opposite... she's the one who does most of the "throwing out" (bag them and take them to the Salvation Army).

This year I got to redecorate my room for Christmas, so the only thing that went was the old stuff. "

" My toys are following Moore's law, they are better and smaller than the ones they replace.

For instance, my wife got me a really cool HD camera that is about 1" thick by 2" wide x 3" tall. It records for an hour with sound and even zoom in/out. No pile of accessories required, not even a cable to connect it to my laptop for downloading. And it was half the price of my old one!

So my old camera bag ends up having even more space left than the old camera took up.

When you extrapolate miniaturized batteries into a purpose built electric car, over the next ten years there are going to be lots of cool new toys in garages all over the nation.

A battery that will take an electric car over 100 miles can weigh about 66 pounds have a service life of over 10 years, and be replaced in 3 minutes at no cost to the driver with just today's technology.

There's going to be LOTS more room in my garage come spring-cleaning. I hope to see my electric car there and the other junk gone!

~Ruff "

" Mr. Ruff:
And when your new electric car becomes the "old stuff" where and how are you going to dispose of those batteries?
I've heard it's going to be a huge environmental problem when the all mighty Prius becomes that junk in the garage...What do you think? "

" Since I got a new flat screen HDTV, we put the old bulky TVs on Craigslist and actually got some cash for them. "

" 2012 yet? - You ask a question about hybrid car batteries that I have answered many times before, but here goes.

There are several car battery chemistry families by 'main ingredient':

1) Lead is poisonous in very small amounts. It is the battery found most in fossil fuel cars and has lower energy and shorter life than other types.

-They are recyclable.

2) Nickel is poisonous in small amounts. Many people get a skin rash from contact with it in belt buckles and jewelry. This battery is found in many hybrids, including current Prius models.

-These are recyclable.

3) Lithium is not poisonous to human beings in small amounts. It has been used as a treatment for bi-polar disorder. These have high energy capacity and last longer in cars than the other types.

-These batteries are recyclable.

ALL these battery types are recyclable.

No battery of any type should be disposed of in a landfill. It's a waste of your money and against the law.

I have checked specifically with Toyota and they offer recycling for ALL their batteries. Please call Vassar Toyota and check for yourself!

About $1 billion a day bleeds out of our economy to oil addiction, that would put millions of Americans to work in good jobs that can not be outsourced. With all this money involved, the fossil fuel companies are willing to buy politicians and lobbyists to keep things the way they are.

We need to THINK, BABY, THINK!

Driving electric is the NEW Patriotism!

~Ruff "

" John Richards, Santa was good to you I see!

~Ruff "

" I usually go through the kids' toys while they're not there because they suddenly will feel sentimental attachment to anything that I want to throw out. They won't even miss it if I can get it by them! They're still young enough that I can get away with this, though I'll always use this technique if they refuse to clean their rooms. I don't remember my mom cleaning out my toys, so she must have been good at it. Sadly, there is no more salvation army store to donate things to, and even last year they weren't accepting toys after Christmas! I tried to donate then and I was shocked to be turned away. I guess the manufacturers can stop now because the world is saturated with toys. "

" Here it is Jan. 5 and I still have the Christmas tree up and the toys keep getting restacked under the tree each night. One of these nights I have to start finding homes for the new and ways to sort out the old toys... "

" Contact the Salvation Army pick up truck (website is sa truck dot org) and from your computer you can set a pick up date and list all of the items you wish to donate...It doesn't get any easier than that!

Ah, and tell the kids it's the best way to contribute to charity instead of having unused toys collecting dust and using precious space :) "