Comments on: Ungreen http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html A gold mine of straight talk and encouragement for people living with diabetes Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:03:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Sesso http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-245520 Sesso Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:46:21 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-245520 Great site. Great site.

]]> By: AlongSide http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40650 AlongSide Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:18:15 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40650 I have noticed that ACCU-CHEK is downsizing the boxes they use for several of their meters. There are a few others that have smaller boxes as well so perhaps they realize smaller boxes and packaging is cheaper in the long run. I have noticed that ACCU-CHEK is downsizing the boxes they use for several of their meters. There are a few others that have smaller boxes as well so perhaps they realize smaller boxes and packaging is cheaper in the long run.

]]> By: camille johnson http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40649 camille johnson Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:13:11 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40649 Way back in the '70's, when I first became diabetic, test strips were made of paper. BUT, users were cutting them in half to get twice the bang for their buck, and before you know it, manufacturers did away with [green] paper and started making test strips of a thick plastic that can't be cut. Way back in the ’70′s, when I first became diabetic, test strips were made of paper. BUT, users were cutting them in half to get twice the bang for their buck, and before you know it, manufacturers did away with [green] paper and started making test strips of a thick plastic that can’t be cut.

]]> By: bryan wasserman http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40648 bryan wasserman Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:37:52 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40648 I do find it pretty disturbing how as a culture we've pretty much completely shifted from REUSE, to USE-ONCE-AND-DISCARD. It makes perfect sense that this has occurred, since economic models undervalue actual costs of source materials (postponed costs assoc with disturbances of ecosystems, climate, air and water quality). The good news (maybe) is that most of this shift has happened in just the last 50 yrs, and can be unlearned over the next 50. Although experts have been warning of various collapses for just about as long, there's been no pressure to push a change, and bring it into any kind of mainstream ethics discussion. Obviously, the scope of this forum doesn't permit more than this glimpse we get as diabetics--who probably can't imagine glass pump reservoirs we'd need to clean, o-rings we'd need to oil, tubing limited to 15-20", and test strips scooped from bulk bins at the pharmacy--but there're plenty of bigger impacts we have every day just living in a developed nation. If you've got a minute, do some rsrch on the senselessness of most bottled water sales. I do find it pretty disturbing how as a culture we’ve pretty much completely shifted from REUSE, to USE-ONCE-AND-DISCARD. It makes perfect sense that this has occurred, since economic models undervalue actual costs of source materials (postponed costs assoc with disturbances of ecosystems, climate, air and water quality). The good news (maybe) is that most of this shift has happened in just the last 50 yrs, and can be unlearned over the next 50. Although experts have been warning of various collapses for just about as long, there’s been no pressure to push a change, and bring it into any kind of mainstream ethics discussion. Obviously, the scope of this forum doesn’t permit more than this glimpse we get as diabetics–who probably can’t imagine glass pump reservoirs we’d need to clean, o-rings we’d need to oil, tubing limited to 15-20″, and test strips scooped from bulk bins at the pharmacy–but there’re plenty of bigger impacts we have every day just living in a developed nation. If you’ve got a minute, do some rsrch on the senselessness of most bottled water sales.

]]> By: Suzi http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40647 Suzi Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:51:05 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40647 I learned a year and a half ago that we have an outlet for "weird hard plastic" and "weird soft plastic" recycling in my area. That takes care of some of the packaging for my QuickSets and reservoirs; the paper parts can go in the paper recycling as well. That leaves the needle; the needle that connects the reservoir to the insulin bottle; the sticky adhesive/alcohol swabby thing; and the previous set as the only trash from my diabetic life. Oh, and the 12-20 strips I go through every day (but the bottles themselves can go in "hard plastic"). This has dramatically cut down on my landfill stream. I live in an area with a LOT of recycling options, so even now the main things, perhaps usually the ONLY things, in the trash are old sets, strips, kitty litter, the occasional lightbulb (that will end as we switch to compact fluorescents, which need to be recycled/taken care of in a different facility) and meat or fish scraps that can't be composted. Mail stores (Mailboxes, Etc., etc.) will take the freakin' "peanuts" that come in every box of supplies, and we reuse the little boxes for mailing holiday presents. Still. If I didn't live in green central, I'd be out of my mind with all of this waste. And THAT's one of many reasons I don't mind tubing. I couldn't stand throwing away a whole pod every time I needed to change out a set. Yikes. (And ... wait ... you have to throw out BATTERIES as well? No way.) I only wish that my pump would run OK on rechargable batteries, but I do recycle the used ones. I learned a year and a half ago that we have an outlet for “weird hard plastic” and “weird soft plastic” recycling in my area. That takes care of some of the packaging for my QuickSets and reservoirs; the paper parts can go in the paper recycling as well.

That leaves the needle; the needle that connects the reservoir to the insulin bottle; the sticky adhesive/alcohol swabby thing; and the previous set as the only trash from my diabetic life. Oh, and the 12-20 strips I go through every day (but the bottles themselves can go in “hard plastic”).

This has dramatically cut down on my landfill stream. I live in an area with a LOT of recycling options, so even now the main things, perhaps usually the ONLY things, in the trash are old sets, strips, kitty litter, the occasional lightbulb (that will end as we switch to compact fluorescents, which need to be recycled/taken care of in a different facility) and meat or fish scraps that can’t be composted.

Mail stores (Mailboxes, Etc., etc.) will take the freakin’ “peanuts” that come in every box of supplies, and we reuse the little boxes for mailing holiday presents. Still. If I didn’t live in green central, I’d be out of my mind with all of this waste.

And THAT’s one of many reasons I don’t mind tubing. I couldn’t stand throwing away a whole pod every time I needed to change out a set. Yikes. (And … wait … you have to throw out BATTERIES as well? No way.) I only wish that my pump would run OK on rechargable batteries, but I do recycle the used ones.

]]> By: geekgirl http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40646 geekgirl Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:48:09 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40646 I always feel compelled to save the various packaging too. Funny world. So I have quite a few boxes of my paraphernalia in the home office. And a shoe box full of some my "old school" items. I wonder how many of us have saved product manuals and made room for empty boxes instead of keeping scrapbooks and mementos in our homes. I'd love it if more of the packaging was recyclable. The plastic + paper combo is a killer. And I've read that One-Touch strip bottles can't be recycled because of the built-in desiccant to keep them dry. :-( When I heard of people buying "carbon offsets" to remove their guilt for airline travel CO2 emissions.. I was in shock. (An example: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.carbonfootprint.com/offset.aspx)" rel="nofollow">http://www.carbonfootprint.com/offset.aspx)</a> But how credit much would I need to buy in order to make up for all of the plastic and shipping for products I need to stay alive? How much time should I spend peeling off pharmacy labels to protect my privacy before I put the paper boxes into the recycle bin? It makes my head spin. Ultimately I decide that the extra trash my insulin pump creates is LESS medical waste than dialysis 3-4 times a week, and let it go. Ugh. I always feel compelled to save the various packaging too. Funny world. So I have quite a few boxes of my paraphernalia in the home office. And a shoe box full of some my “old school” items. I wonder how many of us have saved product manuals and made room for empty boxes instead of keeping scrapbooks and mementos in our homes.

I’d love it if more of the packaging was recyclable. The plastic + paper combo is a killer. And I’ve read that One-Touch strip bottles can’t be recycled because of the built-in desiccant to keep them dry. :-(

When I heard of people buying “carbon offsets” to remove their guilt for airline travel CO2 emissions.. I was in shock. (An example: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/offset.aspx)

But how credit much would I need to buy in order to make up for all of the plastic and shipping for products I need to stay alive? How much time should I spend peeling off pharmacy labels to protect my privacy before I put the paper boxes into the recycle bin? It makes my head spin.

Ultimately I decide that the extra trash my insulin pump creates is LESS medical waste than dialysis 3-4 times a week, and let it go.

Ugh.

]]> By: Jo http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40645 Jo Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:13:59 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40645 I bought some stuff at Ulta yesterday and when I got it home and opened the huge box, the small tube of stuff was at the bottom ... I thought "what a waste". Call Al Gore! I bought some stuff at Ulta yesterday and when I got it home and opened the huge box, the small tube of stuff was at the bottom … I thought “what a waste”. Call Al Gore!

]]> By: Kate http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40644 Kate Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:26:30 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40644 I've wondered (but haven't checked out) whether the batteries in the Omnipod are the same as hearing aid batteries... I’ve wondered (but haven’t checked out) whether the batteries in the Omnipod are the same as hearing aid batteries…

]]> By: Janet http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40643 Janet Sat, 12 Apr 2008 03:23:16 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40643 Of course, the GI-normous packaging is all about perceived value. It's the American way. If it's bigger, it must be better. I think we should all send those huge OmniPod hard cases back to the company. I don't mind so much throwing out the plastic pods themselves -- they're smaller than lots of other plastic junk we throw out over the course of three days -- but wasting all those little button batteries that still have juice in them is ridiculous. I guess I can understand why, for safety reasons, each pod has to have fresh batteries, but isn't there some way we can put them to use after the pod has expired? At first I thought an idea would come to me, so I dutifully pried them out of every pod and saved them in a jar on the kitchen counter. One found a home in a digital kitchen timer, but that's it. One. So now I throw them away and feel like a terrible person for introducing potentially toxic material into the waste stream. : ( I looked into selling them on eBay, but new ones are only 1-2 cents apiece. If the folks at Insulet were ingenious enough to come up with the life-changing engineering miracle that is the OmniPod, can't SOMEONE there find a use for all those tiny batteries? Use them in the PDM perhaps? Of course, the GI-normous packaging is all about perceived value. It’s the American way. If it’s bigger, it must be better.
I think we should all send those huge OmniPod hard cases back to the company. I don’t mind so much throwing out the plastic pods themselves — they’re smaller than lots of other plastic junk we throw out over the course of three days — but wasting all those little button batteries that still have juice in them is ridiculous. I guess I can understand why, for safety reasons, each pod has to have fresh batteries, but isn’t there some way we can put them to use after the pod has expired? At first I thought an idea would come to me, so I dutifully pried them out of every pod and saved them in a jar on the kitchen counter. One found a home in a digital kitchen timer, but that’s it. One. So now I throw them away and feel like a terrible person for introducing potentially toxic material into the waste stream. : (
I looked into selling them on eBay, but new ones are only 1-2 cents apiece.
If the folks at Insulet were ingenious enough to come up with the life-changing engineering miracle that is the OmniPod, can’t SOMEONE there find a use for all those tiny batteries? Use them in the PDM perhaps?

]]> By: cindy http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/04/ungreen.html/comment-page-1#comment-40642 cindy Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:57:56 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2008/04/11/ungreen/#comment-40642 Thanks for commenting on this issue. The Deltec Cleo infusion sets are another big source of plastic waste. When every set includes its own inserter device, there's a lot of plastic that gets thrown away. Thanks for commenting on this issue.
The Deltec Cleo infusion sets are another big source of plastic waste. When every set includes its own inserter device, there’s a lot of plastic that gets thrown away.

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