Diabetes not environment friendly?

Type 1 and LADA
1

So this have been on my mind for a while,I mean,it is true that we can reuse some of the needles and such,but for a limited time,and with all the caps and the packaging that contains it,and as for recycling,I’m only guessing here,there must be a limit to recycling medical waste.

I use disposable pens,I Love my NovoRapid pen,My Solostar,I just love them,I used the pens that you load by yourself and honestly,I didn’t like my Novonordisk pen,But I still feel that there’s something off.
And don't even get me started on pumps,ugh!,Don't get me wrong,I'm all for the pump,I don't have it yet,but I've been seeking one since I was diagnosed almost two yrs ago,Me being a gadget-addict doesn't really support my cause,but seriously!,all the useless packaging and the disposable inserters are kinda too much,I'm not denying that I don't like the idea of on-the-go all in trash sets,but I still feel guilty,Plastic is Not environment friendly.
I DO realize how important it is to keep supplies sterile,2 of my acquaintances have Hep and it is not any fun,I trully understand where they're coming from,But it does make me wonder,are they-Pharmaceutical companies-getting out of their way,trying to figure that out?
I'm not gonna be a hypocrite,I never recycled,I don't wear save the whales badge,it's just that I happen to be dealing with this matter daily and somethings are eye-catching.So,what are your thoughts on the subject?

2

I used to use Quick-Sets when I was on a Minimed pump, but when I switched to an Animas Ping they switched me to Insets. Besides them not being comfortable for me, I also HATE all the waste of having a disposable inserter every time - it’s ridiculous. Another reason I plan to switch back to Quick-sets (or anything that’s not ‘all-in-one’) next time I order supplies!..I just feel so bad about myself throwing out this big hunk of plastic every 2-3 days!

3

you’re right,as I said,it might be comfortable and all,but this huge chunk of plastic would keep nagging me .

4

I was told I could inquire with the recycling plants around here as to if they’d take my Insets, if I remove my needle.

They won’t.

It’s frustrating!

5

I do use the Mio’s occasionally, and I remove the needle (or place the top at least) and put the plastic components into our recycling bin. In fact, if you look on the top cover of the set, it has a “5” triangular recycle symbol.

6

Many communities DO NOT recycle anything besides 1 and 2. :frowning:

7

I don’t know what ours does, but I put it in there anyway,… maybe.

8

i suck insulin out of everything, remove needles…i’m a bit of a freak about recycling this stuff.

in my community we DO have recycling for ALL plastics <3

i know that isn’t the case many places.

9

you know I agree with the thought that Diabetes is not an environmentally friendly disease., It is awful. When I change a site, it looks like i could open my own landfill. Surely there must be a better way.

rick phillips

10

No, Diabetes is not environmentally friendly… I for one would not like to go back to the years, insulin needles required sterilization, sharpening etc. in the home . I keep my number of glucometers I use down to a minimum . We are fortunate, in my province I have to go to the Pharmacy to pick up pump supplies , no air shipments and extra boxes .

11

Being a type II diabetic, I don’t have all the waste materials around that a type I may have, but still, there are the strips, the lancets, etc. If you “save” them up for even a month, that’s a lot of waste. Our pharmacy and clinics will take the lancets and dispose of them with their needles and sharps…the strips get thrown into the garbage though…if you test 3 times a day that’s over 120 of those little pieces of medically filled strips a month…that’s a lot in t he course of a life time of a diabetic. Your message caused me to wonder if companies are even thinking of this situation when they produce new advanced strips…and how many diabetics are there in the world??? WOW talk about pollution.

12

Danny re-visited his blog of 2009 about " littering " I just noticed .

We have pumpers meet ups in my community and usually some one brings unused pump items and these get re-cycled amongst us. A win win , however small .

13

The test strips are the worst. I test 10x a day and throw out 300 of those a month! That’s over 3,500 a year. I have used over 50,000 strips in my lifetime as a diabetic (didn’t always test 10x a day) and I still have another 50+ years ahead if I live till old age! If I live that long I’ll use about 200,000 additional strips. I hate it. I do recycle the plastic containers they come in, though, when I can, but that is still a lot of waste. :frowning:

14

I don’t use sets with disposable inserters for this reason, makes me feel guilty throwing all that plastic out. I also use sets that come with one set of tubing for every two infusion sets, so that helps save waste, too. I also get my supplies from the pharmacy and not shipped directly to my house.

I am also glad that the only pens available here in Canada are the reusable ones. I would never use one that you throw out each time it’s empty. Such a HUGE waste. I also would never use an OmniPod for that reason, HUGE waste of supplies even compared to conventional pumps which have tons of waste themselves.

I do recycle the plastic boxes that insulin, infusion sets, test strips and so on come in. I don’t recycle the plastic although some of it could probably be recycled at specialty places.

15

On the top of the inset II sets is the 05 recycling symbol. I just pull the needle out with a pair of pliers and recycle all the plastic from the set.

16

This bugs me too but I can’t see any way around it. I am sure I have a giant pile of garbage from diabetes in several locations. I don’t see any way around it. Maybe an incinerator in the garage but that’s probably worse?

17

I’m happy to find I’m not the only one fixated n the waste. I used to use MDI by disposable pen and that waste made me crazy. But now I switched to a pump and the waste is worse. Diabetes supplies have so much packaging and plastic!

18

While I don’t condone unneccessary waste, I say leave enviroment guilt to healthy people. We have enough trouble as is.

19

I like that :wink: