Now through May 2, AAA is honoring Earth Day and National Arbor Day by turning the mundane task of replacing your car's battery into a green initiative.
Replacing your car battery isn’t exactly fun, but AAA is making the job more rewarding by funding the planting of new trees for every car battery replaced by its Emergency Roadside Service or at the AAA Car Care Center in Southington.
“Your batterie's dead, you need to get a new one, and then you find out that just by having your battery replaced, you’re doing some good for the Earth,” said Amy Parmenter, Manager for Public and Government Affairs for AAA.
The trees funded by AAA will be planted in national forests through the Arbor Day Foundation. AAA expects this year to be their most successful yet because of the number of car battery replacements they’ve seen lately as a result of cars sitting idle during the pandemic.
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“That can cause battery neglect,” says AAA Battery Technician, Alex Cartagena. “And luckily we are able to help give them that peace of mind that even when it sits, we’re there when they need us.”
“In the first 3 months of this year, we saw an increase of almost 25% of replacing batteries compared to the first 3 months last year,” Parmenter said.
The pandemic did put a pause on the “Batteries for Trees” program last year, but in 2019, 6,000 trees were planted, which was up 36% from the 4,400 trees planted in 2018.
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“It’s something that our members feel good about, and it’s something that our AAA battery guys and our associates feel good about,” Parmenter said. “To know that the organization is so committed to doing what’s right when it comes to being eco-friendly.”
