Protect Wildlife: Safely Dispose of Waste to Prevent Harm

Here's a thought which only occurred to me recently. The cellophane coverings on both my stoma pouches seem to be a danger zone as far as fish and small mammals are concerned. As we pull away the covering from the pouch before putting it on, use some scissors to cut it in half. That way, the circle of plastic is cut in half and will no longer be able to wrap itself around any sea creature or bird and choke it to death. We all try to dispose of our waste products safely, but we don't know where our used pouches/bags end up. It only takes a second to snip the cellophane in half. Please try out this tiny act of kindness and be aware of consequences to our fellow planet dwellers. Please. Best wishes to you all in this time of crisis. Lizz.x

Hi Lizz.  Thanks for the advice.  Mine are packaged differently but I'll be aware as to how other stuff needs to be treated.

Respectfully,

Mike

Hi Lizz,

That's an interesting point you make... and sounds like a good idea. How do you think the fish and small mammals are going to deal with the billions of masks, gloves, and other PPE that's about to hit our landfills and oceans in the next few months? I'm waiting for the environmental folks to say something about that... but so far mum's the word. I assume the hospitals will incinerate, but no one else will... in the garbage they'll go. We really need to start thinking hard about getting this planet cleaned up and stop kicking the can down the road for future generations to deal with. I was shocked a few weeks ago when I saw that my local McDonald's doesn't recycle. Just about everything they have in the place is either paper or plastic of one sort or another. But I got a peek behind the fenced area where they keep their trash cans. No recycling, just a garbage dumpster. Amazing.

Regards,

Bob

I'm all for recycling whatever we can, but in comparison to the amount of disposable nappies/diapers in landfills, the waste an ostomate creates is just a drop in the ocean, as compared to the tsunami of shite coming from the rest of the population.

Good idea, Liz. I would love for people to not release balloons. This is a big problem for wildlife.

Hello Lizz. 

Thanks for this post and the advice within. 

I've done loads of rhymes on the subject of pollution and was going to post one of my ealier ones from the 1990's Unfortunately, the book is now out of print and in those days I wasn't using a computer to store them. So, I'll include a later one. I hope you like!

Best wishes

Bill

HUMAN FILTH.

I like to see when things are clean
especially where people have been.
There’s not much worse that you could find
than filth that comes from humankind.

The dirt and rubbish seems to grow
you’ll see it everywhere you go.
But people do not seem to care
as they will leave it everywhere.

Fags and gum, glass and tins
which all could go into the bins.
Strewn on the streets and blown by breeze
there’s plastic bags stuck in the trees.

When people drink their cans of beer
they don’t magically disappear.
For most people I have found
simply throw them on the ground.

They let their dogs just make a mess
as if they couldn’t care much less.
Even though they break the law
they don’t know what bins are for.

It is like living in a tip
with no sense of citizenship.
And there’s no consideration
with this filth proliferation.

Humans must have got a taste
for their own garbage and their waste.
They have polluted far and near
and even their own atmosphere.

How can our species be this way
living in filth from day to day.
What must the other creatures think
that we have made the whole world stink.

                                         B. Withers 2012

Hello Bob,   Nothing will happen until people make it difficult for the huge corporations to make a profit and who are we to do that? We can, however, spread the word about our own personal wastefulness. Profit is the only god some people give a stuff about   - they are so big that nothing can touch them. I despair at times...so much easier to close our eyes to the huge problems we're making for the next generation. Our children will blame us for this - if anyone is still alive by then. I decided to make a tiny request in the hope that such a simple action might (a bloody big 'might' ) remind people that the world needs looking after. And you have responded! Yay!   Sadly, it seems as if I'm preaching to the converted by what you say in your message. Ah well, all we can hope is that someone drops a massive bomb on Macdonald's in the near future! That would be a start - or you could complain to the company about the amount of detritus they leave in their wake? Ha ha. Thanks, Bob.                         Best, Lizz.

Thank you so much for this, Mike. Pass it on - you know, 'one voice' and all that! Best, Lizz

I always cut the rings of the plastic six-pack soda can rings, but I have to say that before I saw your post, Lizz, your point never even crossed my mind. The cellophane cover on my barrier flange comes off and straight into the trash. Now, to be honest, the environment is the last thing on my mind when I'm changing my appliance. But from this point on, I will be clipping the cover in half.

Brilliant! Thank you GraphX12. Made my day! (I don't get out much!) Ha ha

Hello Lizz.

I almost forgot my little booklets on 'Di-line rhyme'. One of them covered 'Pollution', so I thought I would include a sample here to add to your discussion on those who profiteer from pollution.

Best wishes

Bill

HUMAN POLLUTION 29.

THERE’LL ALWAYS BE POLLUTERS HERE
AS LONG AS THEY CAN PROFITEER.

B. WITHERS. 2015

Ah, what a loss Bill Withers was! Time to stop the buggers from making money this way then, eh Bill! Thanks for responding. Lizz

Hi Lizz,

Funny thing... now every time I change my barrier, I actually look at all the waste and cut everything circular in half. Each barrier ring has a front and back piece of plastic to keep it from sticking to the package. The outer side of the cut-to-fit barrier is a thick plastic circle... heck, even the old barrier once removed is a big circle... so I cut that in half too. So I'm glad you brought this up. I'd suggest everyone send a note (email) to their barrier/ring manufacturer and suggest they put some warning on the packaging and a simple note to cut all circular packaging in half. Will they do it... probably not. Maybe we should contact PETA and let them bust Hollister, Convatec, and Coloplast's balls about it. Yeah... I always did like Pam Anderson...

;0)

Bob