What Do I Do with These Needles? Sharps Disposal Resources
MR arrived at the clinic last week with a bag full of stuff. To be honest, my imagination conjured that they had a bag of fresh peaches or other fruits from their local farm to share with the staff. I laughed when they pulled out bleach and coffee containers filled with lancets and needles. When we first met they had been tossing their used sharps in the trash. After I explained that those sharps can harm the sanitation workers plus they can mess up recycling equipment, they were more than happy to start tossing used needles and syringes in used bleach bottles and coffee cans. MR is not alone, many people living with diabetes use sharps such as lancets or needles to manage their diabetes and disposing of used sharps safely is important for all of us.
We want to share this helpful website, SafetyIsThePoint.org that gives instructions for how to safely dispose of household-used sharps. This website has videos, cheatsheets, and a search function for drop-off locations available by zip code.
Household Sharps Management
On their Household Sharps Management page, they outlined the steps for how to safely dispose of sharps in their household trash, along with an instructional video.
Finding Local Disposal Locations
Across the U.S. people living with Diabetes can enter their zip code and find disposal centers in their regions.
Cheatsheets
They also provide handy posters and cheatsheets on best practices for household sharps disposal.
- Used Household Sharps Disposal Poster
- Used Household Sharps Disposal Rack Card
- Household Sharps Fact Sheet
- Social Media Material
Check out their website, SafetyIsThePoint.org to read more.
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