13 Comments
Happy Earth Day! Do you recycle any of the packaging from diabetes-related supplies?
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Paper I can recycle, plastic not so much.
Yes, most of it – the paper and recyclable plastic product packaging. However, It is really annoying for the plastic pod inserters from the Dexcom G6 are so cumbersome to recycle. it would have been a good idea for Dexcom to design and produce a reloadable inserter to save on all the plastic that goes to God knows where as waste. As I have stated before in other comments … what would happen if we all sent the tens of thousands, perhaps millions, of used inserter devices back to Dexcom en masse so they can dispose of them or recycle them into a better user and environmentally friendly device? I have several boxes of spent inserter devices taking up space and collecting dust in my garage.
I put packaging in recycle and hope they actually recycle it. I do no take things apart to remove needles and the like because it takes too long (surprisingly well put together).
I have quite a bit of Medtronic pump supplies but not sure where to donate. I switched to tandem. I live in Michigan.
I would love to be able to recycle all of my pump packaging supplies, but can only recycle the paper. Not being able to recycle is one major bummer of pump therapy. I think that the companies should find ways to make the packaging compostable or recyclable as each site change produces a lot of waste!
For Omnipod – In Canada Insulet has a recycling system- they send us a bag that we fill w used pods and ship back to them n/c
For Dexcom G7 – I follow this video to deconstruct pretty easily to remove battery and needle then put plastic and metal into our recycling. I hope it actually gets recycled https://youtu.be/FFjAfcdcHWE?feature=shared
“Recycling” is a marketing term that doesn’t really mean anything. It’s like calling a product premium, artisinal, or luxury. I’m sure everyone has good intentions, but according to the EPA, only 5% of the plastic collected in the U.S. is actually recycled. What’s the point.
Yes, we recycle every little bit that is recyclable, but that is a habit, in our household, for all recyclables.
There is very little that is paper and therefore recyclable. I do recycle what I can. Wish it was different.
I recycle the paper that come with my supplies and the cardboard boxes that the supplies come in. Unfortunately, the cover of the dexcom 7 can’t be recycled in my city’s recyclable container or I would put that in with my other recyclable products. Most of the other pump and CGM supplies contain needles or are in some other way not recyclable. 🙁
I recycle as much as I possibly can.
I recycle what I can (sensor plastic packaging and paper packaging). The majority of T1D supplies are not packaged/produced with recyclable materials. 🙁
I am of the Earth Day generation and practiced as a LEED architect since 1992 but have never been able to even safely dispose of my sharps. My municipality (big city) combines paper metal glass and 1 & 2 plastics yet good journalism repeatedly confirms that it all goes to landfill. The economics of POST-CONSUMER plastics recycling no longer exists at any scale (remember when some countries refused American barges of our garbage?).