Rubbish / Garbage / Trash

[brenda seal]

Do you have any tips for me ? I am having trouble fitting all the dialysis bags and stuff in the rubbish bin on collection night . I have just been sneaking around the neighbours trying to find room in someone else's bin ! What do you all do with all this rubbish ? Petty problem I know but it is driving me crazy !

[Joe]

Brenda, doing PD I do generate a ton of trash every week. But I do have room in my trash can for it. You may need to ask your provider if they have a bigger can for you to use.

[cattlekid]

Well, I am lucky in that we are not allowed to put out trash cans, only bags and we are not limited to the # of bags that we put out.  So there is no problem with the amount of trash that home hemo generates. 

However, our village seems to be making noises about going to trash stickers like other local villages.  If that's the case, I plan on finding out if there is a medical waiver for a certain # of trash stickers per week.

[Trikkechickk]

Do you have any tips for me ? I am having trouble fitting all the dialysis bags and stuff in the rubbish bin on collection night . I have just been sneaking around the neighbours trying to find room in someone else's bin ! What do you all do with all this rubbish ? Petty problem I know but it is driving me crazy !

I'm on home hemo and here's what I do:

Roll up the cartridge & blue pad as tight as possible and tie w/the lines

Dialysate bag (SAK):  I cut both ends (to get rid of air) and roll up as tight as possible & tie w/line.

Ditto w/the hanging bags.

Put into trash can separately - if you bundle in a garbage bag - it will take up more room.

I take the water purifier to the dump about 2 to 3x a year.

I have the smallest (baby) trash can available.

[Willis]

I'm on a cycler and the boxes and bags sure do generate a lot of trash! Not to mention the unopened boxes which take up so much room that I don't have.

Fortunately, not long before I started on PD our city gave everyone large rollout recycle bins to go along with our refuse bins. So the medical waste goes into bags and the refuse bin. The boxes and other stuff like the outer wrappers go into the recycle bin.

It would be a real PITA if I didn't have the recycle rollout bin. All I can suggest is to ask your city services if they have special provisions for disposing of medical waste or if they can provide a large bin for recycling or if they will allow you to use more than one refuse bin.

 

[Darthvadar]

Like you all, we create a huge amount of dialysis waste...

All the outer boxes, instruction leaflets, etc. from Mum's PD fluids, caps, shields, etc goes into the regular green bin (Recycling)... And that's a nightmare, because we're restricted to a certain amount (whatever fits into the green wheelie bin) and it's collected every two weeks.... However, our local Litter Warden (employed by the local County Council) has arranged with the waste company to take any additional packaging we can't fit into the bin, provided we present it neatly, and leave it beside the bin on collection day...

We're very lucky though, because the local hospital provides a Clinical Bin, too... Everything else, used bags, wipes, used caps, shields, paper towel, etc. goes into yellow plastic bags, and into that bin... That is collected by a hazzardous waste disposal company for incineration...

Might be worth asking your unit if any assistance in disposal is available...

Oh and you're right... All that extra rubbish IS a pain in the a**!...

Love to all...

Darth....

[JLM]

Thank God, our city uses BIG dumpsters.  And there is one 100 feet away.  I haul the trash there in my little red wagon.

[M3Riddler]

Do you have any tips for me ? I am having trouble fitting all the dialysis bags and stuff in the rubbish bin on collection night . I have just been sneaking around the neighbours trying to find room in someone else's bin ! What do you all do with all this rubbish ? Petty problem I know but it is driving me crazy !

Brenda,

Do you break down your boxes?  More and more communities/cities now offer recycling centers/large bins you can go to for free to get rid of your recycled material. Doesnt cost anything to do. You may want to ask around or call your local government office or even the copmpany that proviides your garbage service to find out.  This is an easy way to get rid of the boxes.
When I was on PD, we just double bagged the plastic bags/tubing and threw it in the weekly trash pickup. Im sure there are dumpsters in your area if you dont want to keep a weeks worth of trash around. If you ever add heparin to your bags and have sharps, I would take these to your clinic to dispose of. they should give you a red sharps container for this. 
One thing I would not do is put them in your neighbors garbage. If they find out, this can cause problems for you. Many people garbage pick these days and you dont want to be responsible for them picking through a neighbors garbage and finding your used dialysis supplies...

///M3Riddler

[MaryD]

Brenda
I let my bags drain into the loo, and when they are finished I place them together, roll them tightly and wind the drain tubes firmly around the bags.  I drop them into a garbage bag which is next to the loo.  My weeks worth of bags fill half a medium garbage bag.

The boxes need to be broken down.  I find it is easier to pull the inside base up than the outside base out.  I put all the flat pack boxes into the recycle bin just before I put it out.

The plastic wrapper from around the dialysis bags is the most irritating bit.  They have bulked up my volume of garbage the most.

I hope Laurie is going well.

[boswife]

dont have time (or energy right now     ) to finish reading others input but we asked for extra recycle bins.  dont know if thats the kind of 'service' you have, but recicle are free so it helped

[*kana*]

I roll my outer solution bags up and place them in my empy cassette bag.  My tubing and used bags are wrapped around and in a tight little wad.  I use a 50gallon trash can in my spare room and toss every week.  I break my boxes down and once a week I drive to the recycling center and drop them off.   We are allowed 1 96g trash can and 1 30gall and it seems to be enough without the boxes.  You might need to buy more service or ask for an exception in your case.  I know if we are caught adding to others trash cans we'd get a huge fine.     

[lmunchkin]

I'm on a cycler and the boxes and bags sure do generate a lot of trash! Not to mention the unopened boxes which take up so much room that I don't have.

Fortunately, not long before I started on PD our city gave everyone large rollout recycle bins to go along with our refuse bins. So the medical waste goes into bags and the refuse bin. The boxes and other stuff like the outer wrappers go into the recycle bin.

It would be a real PITA if I didn't have the recycle rollout bin. All I can suggest is to ask your city services if they have special provisions for disposing of medical waste or if they can provide a large bin for recycling or if they will allow you to use more than one refuse bin.

Same here Willis.  Now my sharpes I throw in an empty "Laundry detergent container" till it is full, then I duck tape it shut, and throw in regular garbage!  I use detergent containers, because it has a wide opening which is easy to put in sharpes!  I do home hemo, so there are alot of sharps, especially when drawing labs!

lmunchkin

[cattlekid]

Your unit doesn't give you sharps containers?  Ours gives us a sharps container at each monthly visit.  It doesn't fill up between visits.  I make sure that only sharps go in there, no syringe wrappers, that makes it fill up faster.  At each clinic visit, I swap out a full container for a fresh one.

Same here Willis.  Now my sharpes I throw in an empty "Laundry detergent container" till it is full, then I duck tape it shut, and throw in regular garbage!  I use detergent containers, because it has a wide opening which is easy to put in sharpes!  I do home hemo, so there are alot of sharps, especially when drawing labs!

lmunchkin

[jshabanian]

I donate the outer boxes for the PD solution to the local food bank.  They use them to package the food the customers pick up each week.  They are always needing good sturdy boxes.

[billybags]

Reading your posts I think I am so lucky. We have been given an extra bin for our box;s that we break down, OK its a pain in the butt, they are so strong. We also have a council team that pick our medical waste , ie empty PD bags and all the trimmings up every Monday. They leave us bright yellow bags and Baxter's give us black bags with our delivery, how good is that..You will all have to come and live in the UK.

[brenda seal]

Thanks everyone for your tips and advice . Sorry not to have replied sooner but Laurie has come up with another problem that I will ask you about on a new thread . I did not put any dialysis rubbish in the neighbour's bin , just regular household rubbish . We are issued with a recycle bin which is collected once a fortnight so the boxes are not a problem, none of the other stuff is suitable for recycling so it has to go in with the regular household garbage . They have changed Laurie from Baxter to Fresenius and these bags seem to take up more room - I have created a challenge for myself to get them as small as possible using all your tips - I am getting quite good at it !
 If this does not work I will speak to the council about the possibility of another bin or medical waste collection . That is if I ever get the time - I did not realise how much Laurie did until he is now not well enough to do it !
 One job I cannot wait to hand back to him is looking after his birds - I absolutely hate going in those aviaries ! Thanks again everyone for taking time to help me .

[lmunchkin]

Your unit doesn't give you sharps containers?  Ours gives us a sharps container at each monthly visit.  It doesn't fill up between visits.  I make sure that only sharps go in there, no syringe wrappers, that makes it fill up faster.  At each clinic visit, I swap out a full container for a fresh one.

Same here Willis.  Now my sharpes I throw in an empty "Laundry detergent container" till it is full, then I duck tape it shut, and throw in regular garbage!  I use detergent containers, because it has a wide opening which is easy to put in sharpes!  I do home hemo, so there are alot of sharps, especially when drawing labs!

lmunchkin

Yes they will furnish those red containers, but I always forget to ask.  So I use alot of laundry detergent that I feel that that is a better container for my sharpes!  Those needles are not going through that thick plastic.  But yea, they do furnish containers for sharpes.

God Bless,
lmunchkin

[mcclane]

when i was on PD, we initially bought the smaller garbage bags, so it was a real challenge to fit all those pd bags into a small garbage bag, so I wised up and bought the biggest garbage bag available (I believe it was over 100 L ).  Still, by the end of the week, the bag was full and heavy, but the garbage man still threw it out - thank goodness 

when I had to switch to hemo, the city rolled out these bins, so I just wrapped up all the tubing and used the saline line to tie everything up and then throw it out that way.  As for the boxes, I crammed as much as I could into the recycling bin, whatever didn't fit I just threw it into the garbage bin.

[Grumpy-1]

I'm PD and as has been said, dialysis creates a lot of trash - no matter which method you are on.  For me, I drain the left over fluids into the tub, and roll up the bags as tight as possible.  We have a trash pickup and they come twice a week, so the rolling trash bin will hold all the trash quite well.  The boxes are another matter.  I have a grand daughter who's school is collecting cardboard for a fund raiser, so about once a month we'll pile all the broken down boxes into the car and pack them to the school for deposit.  If she wasn't doing this fund raiser, then our dump has a card board recycling bin that I would take them to. 

Sharpies,  I thought there was some type of law prohibiting dumping of bio waste in the normal trash.  I use a red container the clinic gave me and when it is full, I'll take it to the clnic and let them dispose of it.

Grumpy

[lmunchkin]

And where does the clinic dispose of it, Grumpy?  They dispose of it with alot of other trash in trash bins.  I thought they may burn it or something, but needles will not burn.  They just put in those red containers and secure it and throw in Huge trash bins, which is picked up by giant trash trucks who dump it in the dump!  As long as they are contained, it is ok to throw in regular trash.  They don't have trash patrol going around inspecting.  I am aware that needles need extra attention. Trust me, I tape it very well. I don't think anyone roams around the dump sites, looking for "anything".  If they do, they are crazy!

God Bless,
lmunchkin

[Grumpy-1]

lmunchkin    You are right - I don't know where it go from the clinic.  And you are probably correct it goes to a dump like all the other trash.  I just know that a number of times I've read where needles and bio waste has shown up on beaches, or other places and officials are up in arms about it.     I just hope it is disposed of properly.

[lmunchkin]

Yea, Grumpy, I know what you mean!  I certainly don't want that to happen to anyone for sure!  I can assure you, mine is taped to the hilt.  But it is really more convenience than anything. With home hemo and having to draw labs, needles can really accumulate rapidly. We don't go to clinic but once a month (really don't want to go that often, but because of medicare restraints, we have to) and lots of times, I forget!  So I just fill my detergent bottle up, tape and throw away.

I really am a REBEL at times Grumpy! Just do things my way, and to heck with establishment!  LOL.  Its the ole hippy in me! By the way, have you riden lately?  Yea, I guess that was a dumb question my dear!

God Bless,
lmunchkin
 

[Grumpy-1]

lmunchkin    I do believe that we (our generation) is more of a rebel than our kids or grand kids think.  Hey I come from the Hippy / Lover Power / flower power generation of the 60s.   I enjoy being a rebel at times, but now it mostly on the bike.  SPEED baby SPEED - great thrill even now.  Did I tell you I got a new bike.  07 Ultra Classic.   and Yes I've been enjoying the summer weather here and spending as much time in the wind as possible.  LoL Grumpy

[lmunchkin]

What did you do with the one you had and traveled with?  By Ultra Classic, thats a Honda, right?  Could be a Harley though!
I bet its a sweet ride.  I started my bike this evening, and it was like grinding, but that ole battery had the juice to get it going, and whalay, she puuuured like a kitten!     Might try to get it out and ride tomorrow if it don't rain  , but with pretty weather comes grass/weeds, so I may have to mow yard instead   

lmunchkin
 

[Grumpy-1]

lmunchkin    The ultra is a Harley.  Coming back from Key West Fl last Oct, the engine went boooom and froze up.  Had to put it on a trailer to get it home.  It is in the shed and I'm debating rather to take it apart and fix it or sell it as is...    Glad to hear your bike is running and purring.... Yes yard work is needed, BUT girl - the grass will continue to grow,  but riding doesn't come every day.  Go ride a bit then yard work.  Grumpy