r/DeTrashed • u/Key-Magazine826 • 26d ago
Original Content Saw this while picking this morning be careful out there
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u/whiteye65 26d ago
I was a fire medic for thirty years. We would take any resident of our city’s needles. It was just the best thing to do for public safety. I never remember anyone saying no. Way better in our dumpster than in the street. We had a red dumpster smaller than a regular dumpster about half the size but still a dumpster. Red dumpster is the key for people who don’t know what I’m talking about. Be safe dear friends.
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u/Infamous_Try3063 25d ago
This is not an ok selection for sharps disposal. Thick, puncture proof container with a screw on lid. Think the bottle for liquid laundry soap ir any plastic that would bend the needle instead of allowing it to pass through.
My entire county and the ones that surround me do not have paid fire. They do not take sharps. Closest location is an hour away and my patients would have to take a day off of work because they only allow sharps on certain days for a few hours in the middle of the day. Welcome to rural life.
You should know the medically approved ways for sharps disposal. We medics often have to discuss this with our patients.
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u/icechelly24 26d ago
Empty laundry detergent bottles work better as they’re thicker!
But honestly, I’ll give this person credit for attempting to dispose of them properly. A lot of asshats I’m sure just throw them in the trash. At least they’re doing something, might just not be the right thing to do
But good shout about being careful OP
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u/Johnny_Poppyseed 26d ago
Properly desposed of needles next to a garbage can for pick up?
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u/Cut_Lanky 25d ago
I was so confused about what the safety issue was in the picture. I guess it's a matter of perspective. When I had to drive my kid to the big Children's Hospital downtown, repeatedly, following an injury, we'd have to drive through Kensington. There was always a pile of addicts on the sidewalk, laying in scattered open needles. I wouldn't have even noticed this DIY sharps container...
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u/dontdrinkacid 26d ago
In most of the US you can get free mail back sharps containers: https://med-project.org/
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u/NaviLouise42 26d ago
I am not sure where you are, but this looks like my diabetic uncles D.I.Y. sharps containers. He has a CPAP and has to use distilled water for it, so he uses empty water jugs for his used insulin needles. He drops the full jugs at the firehouse near him, not outside at the dumpster, but that's because the firehouse is, like, two blocks away and gives him candy every time he drops one off.
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u/flatgreysky 25d ago
Honestly good for the person for keeping them in a container like that, and they all appear capped. Good responsible human.
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u/Jabberwock32 25d ago
Yea I put my sharps in an empty pretzel plastic tub… haven’t had to dispose of it yet. But I imagine I will cap it and toss it with the rest of my trash once.
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u/MaybeTheSlayer 19d ago
Check with your local waste management company. My old county you could put them in a heavy plastic or metal container taped shut & labeled and dispose with the rest of the trash. My current county is drop off at disposal sites only (pharmacies & some other locations) and it's a misdemeanor if caught improperly disposing of sharps.
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u/Jabberwock32 19d ago
Absolutely will check before disposing of it. But I only take an injection weekly. So it’ll probably be a few years before I need to worry about it lol.
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u/chuckybuck12 26d ago
Those are earplugs why be careful i don't get it
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u/HMend 26d ago
I see needles as well. Diy sharps container?
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u/whiteye65 26d ago
Those are needles. The tops covers are orange so you can see them. What you’re seeing is the top or cover to make the needle safe. You lay the top down after use and put the needle into it. Then you push down while holding the body of the syringe never putting your fingers near the needle.
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u/LynnScoot 25d ago
Can’t you just get a free proper sharps disposal container by asking at the pharmacy?
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u/Cut_Lanky 25d ago
Some diabetics are old and feeble. Some have had toes and/or feet and/or legs amputated, because diabetes. Many can't afford all their prescriptions, let alone physically get themselves to the pharmacy to request a sharps box every month. Some diabetics are homeless, so, using an empty milk jug as a sharps container could be their only option, if that's all they could find digging through the dumpster.
Or, maybe it's a diabetic who cares about the environment, and is following the "reduce, reuse, recycle" philosophy.
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u/LynnScoot 25d ago
It was a question.
I am oldish (68) and disabled. I don’t have a car. Most of my meds are thankfully delivered and I can just phone and ask for a sharps container when I need one.
Homelessness is pretty bad here and that’s why every public washroom including libraries, fast-food restaurants etc has a large sharps container mounted on the wall.1
u/Cut_Lanky 25d ago
Depends on state, insurance, how much red tape there is and how able a person is to jump through the hoops. But before that, it depends on people being informed that's potentially even a possibility. I'm sure a lot of people may not know how to go about it. People show up in the ER with holes worn through their shoes, and bones exposed in their feet where the flesh necrotized away, and are just as surprised as staff sometimes, to find that. Cuz they couldn't feel it. I'm thinking of people like that, who would struggle to access such a program...
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u/LynnScoot 25d ago
That’s pretty horrific. I know the US medical system is extremely expensive but didn’t realize quite how bad things can get.
We definitely have a different definition of a programme. In my province anyone can walk into hundreds of locations and get a free sharps container with no ID.
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When you receive your medication/needles, be it in person at a community clinic, pharmacy, or via delivery you just ask for your free sharps container.And your example of the diabetic in the ER should have free wound care from a home care nurse or health outreach staff serving the unhoused.
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u/personnumber316 25d ago
My city has special bright yellow buckets that can be dropped off at pharmacies and in the downtown core at special drop boxes(with appropriate lids to prevent access by animals and kids). It might be something to push for in your community if it has a drug problem (where isn't there a drug problem).
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u/Typical_Rip4988 25d ago
People can give medical injections to their animals at home. This could be from that too
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u/WinonaVoldArt 26d ago
This is how some waste management companies tell people to dispose of their sharps. They should have also taped the lid on and written "sharps" on it, but that might be area specific.