Workplace waste

I work in a Home For the Aged. Lately I have been noticing one area of waste that I find really disturbing. We have 150 residents in our home. Med passes are done four times a day. At each pass each resident receives a sealed envelope of medications which are checked, opened and poured into a plastic med cup. Every day 600 cups go to the landfill. Multiply that number by 365 days. Atrocious!

When I started nursing over 35 years ago, we used glass med cups that were washed and reused. I often wonder what happened to that practice, and to the cups themselves. I really can't see that the old practice of washing and reusing was harmful to the resident's health.

We do have a committee at work which now addresses the issues around recycling and I intend to bring this small but important issue to their attention.

I will write about this at a later time.