The review following tells how great NiMh rechargeable batteries are compared to the competition, NiCad, alkaline, etc. The only down side is the self-discharge in storage. All true of the NiMh batteries tested. The reason to buy Eneloop NiMh rechargeable batteries (not included in the review below) instead of every battery listed in the review is that Eneloops hold 85% of their charge after one year in storage! All the advantages of BOTH NiMh and Alkaline batteries: works a thousand times, holds charge in storage. That means that you don’t need a separate charger for each set of stand-by batteries! You can have a drawer full of rechargeable batteries that won’t be dead when you need them, in a blackout.

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/batteries/review.html

That is a good idea. Tax disposable batteries for the same reason you tax cigarettes. Poison.
Has anyone figured how much weight is involved to ship and then to dump disposable batteries every year? Must be megatons going into landfills. Eneloop batteries recycle after a thousand uses. You save shipping one thousand times it’s weight, twice. It may well be that the shipping cost on one thousand disposable batteries is more than you would pay for one Sanyo Eneloop battery. Maybe charging Eneloops costs less than shipping disposables. Has anyone seen estimates of any of these numbers?

So I answered part of my own question. The best price I could find on shipping one thousand alkaline batteries was $57. That is not buying the batteries, $57 is just the freight to get them to my door. One Eneloop costs, to keep it easy, $3, a power pack with 12 Eneloop batteries and a charger costs than less than the freight on 1000 alkalines! and replaces 12 thousand disposable batteries! The best price I saw on ordering alkaline batteries was $270 plus $57 shipping on a thousand. Talk about your carbon footprint!