This September my goals were to bring my medical waste down and to reduce the “splurge” waste I produce when spontaneously buying treats that inevitably come with trash. In review, I could have done better with goal number one. Here’s how:
To avoid medical waste I needed to be planning ahead. Anticipating what my body was going to need and heading it off before it called out longingly for a Band-Aid or plastic wrapped pill. The problem is, that needs a lot of foresight. Great in theory. Hard to put into practice.
This month I produced two Band-Aids from donating blood and getting my flu shot. For the last two years I have been working on ways to reduce my waste when donating blood. I bring my own snacks and even have them reuse the wrap on my arm for multiple visits (discarding the cotton that comes in contact with my blood of course). I have not however, gotten around the Band-Aid slapped on my finger after it’s punched into. The trickiest part is that in this case is that my finger really does bleed. And that needs to be contained somehow.
When I got my flu shot, I knew I wasn’t going to bleed. And even so, I couldn’t quite speak up fast enough when they said they were going to put on a bandage just in case. But in the case of a blood donation, both my finger and my arm need to be wrapped. So…here’s where research comes in. Next time I head over to the blood bank, I plan on bringing a reusable bandage wrap to see if it provides enough pressure to meet the needs of my arm. Additionally, a little of my own cotton and masking tape that I can compost later should do the trick of holding my finger together.
On the medical waste front, I have also been using up some older herbal patches for my shoulders. These sticky bandages do WONDERS for my muscles when they’re acting up and unfortunately, that has been quite frequent lately. I have now invested in some awesome tigress oils that come in glass containers but I can’t quite escape the leftovers hiding in the back of my medicine cabinet forever. It’s better for me to use them up now and be rid of them!
So after all this, you may be saying, “Hey Jenica! What exactly was in your trash jar this month?” And I’ll tell you. Thanks for being patient!
This month was so close to being a record for me! With only 0.7 ounces of trash, one little sticker could have made the difference.
1 scotch tape sticker
1 Twist sponges’ wrapper
1 peanut butter jar seal
1 ice cream seal
1 top of a sandwich toothpick
2 Band-aids
6 medical patches and backings
1 chap stick seal
3 used-clothing price tags and attachments
And that’s it.
Until next month!