Case Studies

The Challenge

Chris is a diabetic. He self-injects insulin and also is on several different oral medications. It's not easy for him to get out. For years he threw his lancets and syringes into the trash. He also flushed his unused medications down the toilet – or just held on to them in case he needed them again.

Several years ago he started placing his syringes and lancets into a plastic container before putting it into the trash. Unfortunately, a neighbor who works for the company that picks up their trash told him that those containers can burst open when compacted by a garbage truck – exposing workers. Chris became concerned about his neighbor and other workers - he didn't want to be the cause of a needlestick. He knew his diabetes was not contagious, but if someone got stuck with one of his needles, that person wouldn't know where or who the needle came from. That person would still need to go through months of expensive testing while being careful not to expose others until blood tests revealed whether a disease had been contracted.

Chris had also been seeing a lot of news about pharmaceuticals being found in city drinking water. He learned that his medicine cabinet could be a source for obtaining prescription drugs for recreational use by his grandkids or their friends – so he did not want to keep them around. On the Internet, Chris found that mixing his unwanted drugs with kitty litter and placing them in the trash was acceptable. "I don't feel any more comfortable putting my old drugs in the trash than I do putting my syringes in the trash! What happens to them at the landfill? Does the rain wash them into streams? Can someone still have access to them?" Chris began to make some calls. He started with the city, which referred him to the household hazardous waste division. "They said they would take my old paint and pesticides and lots of other items, but not my needles or syringes, or my unused medications. Even if they did, the drop-off site is in a really inconvenient location and you have to call to make sure someone is there – that's why I never take any of those other hazardous items to the drop off location."

The Solution

Upon searching the Internet, Chris came across Sharps' website. "I love that Sharps has a solution for both my used syringes and unused drugs. I can just order my sharps mail-back disposal container right from the website. And I found that the drugstore I use has the TakeAway Environmental Return System envelope. I can just pick one up when I'm in for a refill." Both the Sharps Recovery System for sharps and the TakeAway Environmental Return System envelop for unused medications are simply filled and mailed from home.

"Another great thing about Sharps is that my syringes don't end up in a landfill. The customer service representative – who was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, explained that Sharps actually repurposes my syringes and keeps from them ending up in the landfill.

The Result

While helping the environment by keeping his syringes and unused medications out of the landfill, Chris was glad to be able to help protect others including his grandson and his neighbor. A real benefit for Chris was to be able to do this without having to leave home. "Sharps made it easy, and easy is very important to me."