I think this is appropriate here due to all the ‘waste’ those of us with cgm and pumps have. And other meds, for me.
I am holding a tray full of old empty med bottles, marking out my name, and now would like to ask:
When you or if you recycle:
Do you leave the lid on your med bottles?
Where do you put your pump tubing? In trash?–which seems so bad to me but I’m told its medical waste and can’t go in with plastics.
The Dex inserters? Huge plastic things. I have put them in with my plastics, but should I put them in trash with tubing?
I do know that the two (whatever they are called) pump needle inserter and the other blue thing (I use sofsets) are stored in a gallon water jug then topped and taped and put in regular trash with a note on it.
I plan to call my county trash place about med bottles but wondered if there are any general tudiabetes standard practices that could be useful. Thanks.
PS. I’m told that some recycle places may find an insulin bottle too small depending on how big is their screen openings for dropping out small objects. Those I have been putting in with glass & plastic (which we can do here).
Check with your city or town. Each city or town has its own set of rules which they have established with their currently contracted trash removal and recycling company to meet all state and federal guidelines. There are so many variables depending on your location that disposing of diabetic supplies can seem as elusive at times as keeping a flatlined BG level. Every time you think you have your disposal methods under control, some rule or regulation changes.
I’m not sure if my approach is of any help to you since I am not sure which part of the world you live in and what approach to recycling plastics is taken there.
I live in upstate NY state in the US, at the base of one of the “finger lakes”. In my community only plastic marked as #1, #2, or #5 can be put in my curbside bin. Other “rigid” plastics can (I think) be dropped off at the local recycling center if I ever get around to making that trip.
Most of my med bottles are marked. Most of the other plastic for my pump & CGM are not marked. So, aside from that which I can separate out as “rigid plastic” or “sharps”, it ends up in the trash.
I hate it. I wish the world had better options NOW. But they don’t and I don’t see another way around it.
I don’t know about the med bottles but the Dexcom inserter is a self contained sharps container and cannot go in the recycling. Dexcom should have thought about that one a little more while designing it. However Dexcom does claim that there isn’t actually any more plastic in the G6 inserter than there was in the G5.
Interesting. I live in western NC. I note the recycling markings and my county trash site lists what they take except of course they don’t go into detail about things like insulin bottles. And I will ask them.
But they would not know anything about a Dex inserter.
So, thanks for that info, Firenza. Sorry to hear it. You would think that since there is nothing sharp on the exterior that a machine could do its smashing/recycling thing.
And there is nothing sharp on a used insulin tubing. Is someone going to suck out the leftover insulin? Sorry, bad joke.
And I am distressed at all the plastic waste that the pump and cgm yield. Multiply that by even the minority of diabetics who use both and it’s a lot.
Thanks to all who did or will respond. I think it’s useful.
A not as satisfying as I would like it to be “work around” for this is, after inserting, to disassemble the G6 applicator. Carefully separate/remove the actual sharp bits and put them in a sharps container. Once the sharps have been removed, you can dispose of the other plastic and metal bits as responsibly as you can.
I like the approach outlined in the video below. But your mileage may differ.
So, aside from that which I can separate out as “rigid plastic” or “sharps”, it ends up in the trash.
