Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I'm An Eco-Friendly Diabetic

Diabetes isn't the most environmentally friendly disease to have. We go through strip after strip to test our blood, syringes, reservoirs, lancets, alcohol pads, IV preps, tape..the list could go on and on.

I was lured to Omnipod for my lifestyle, but my lifestyle also includes recycling. I'm not the greatest at it at times, but trying to do better. Since you take a Pod off every 3 days and replace with a new one...what are you suppose to do with the old one??? I started to imagine what my local landfill would look like after just one year of my Omnipod use, and the thought made me sick!
So, out came the hammer. Literally! I tried smashing it up to get to the guts to start saving all the pieces to take to my local recycling center. No luck at all with the hammer. Boy, that would be a good selling point for Omnipod wouldn't it??? So, out came the screwdriver. I wedged it in between the top and the back and with a little effort it slowly pried open. Plastic reservoir, and a circuit board and 4 watch batteries...357 to be exact. I have 3 bins in a drawer to collect all the pieces. I tried to fish out the needle, but wasn't so successful there. I'm satisfied with what I can get out of it, and I sleep better now:)

I'm proud of my drawer, which is quite a snapshot of diabetes. Along with the stale smell of insulin that wafts in the air when I open it, is a constant reminder of what life is like for someone with diabetes. Insulin really stinks...in more ways then one!

4 comments:

jpnairn said...

You're an inspiration, Nancy. Way to go!

Mike said...

Oh boy!!! I just throw the massive pile of supplies needed for one site change away. I'm a non-eco-friendly diabetic. Shame on me, however, you bring up a good point with the batteries in your Omnipod.

Mike said...

Here you go: http://tudiabetes.com/forum/topics/is-there-a-way-to-recycle

Eric Rizzo said...

I, too, recycle the batteries. See this discussion