I have mentioned elsewhere that I was disturbed by my personal consumption of AA batteries. After a bit of market research, I bought a charger and some NiMH Batteries. This seems like it is an environmentally responsible thing to do. I hope someone starts mass marketing wind and sun powered rechargers soon. That would be awesome. NiMH battery technology has improved to the point where it they are just plain better than alkaline batteries without much fanfare. I think it is because there is lots of money to be made from disposable batteries. Oh yeah, you generally get some plastic packaging with your disposable batteries.