It’s not easy being green…

ImMaggieMae

Before dementia and incontinence, we used to be so careful about recycling, using our own grocery bags and waiting til we had a full load of clothes before doing the wash. Living in California, we were careful about water use. Our regular trash bin was seldom more than about a third full. Now I order incontinence underwear by the case, heavy pads to go with them, wet wipes and wipes that lather in various shapes and sizes. We go through a roll of toilet paper in little more than a day. A role of paper towels that used to last a week is gone in a couple of days, if that long. Practically the whole trash bin is filled with plastic bags of used incontinence supplies. Where I used to do one or two loads of laundry per week, I do at least one per day now. I don’t know what the answer is. Just one more thing to vent about, I guess.

M1

I'm with you. my recycling efforts completely tanked the last few years, I'm ashamed to admit.

harshedbuzz

That's an interesting observation.

Alas, this seems like yet another way dementia burns through resources in unexpected ways.

It's a trade-off to balance the impact of disposable care and cleaning products vs the environmental impact of water and energy use to clean washcloths, rags and washable incontinence products especially where water is scarce.

trottingalong

yep, I’m with you on that. I do so much more laundry. Also, I find things in the recycle bin that shouldn’t be.

JJ401

Our bins, both regular trash and recycle, are at the front of the garage. I was letting DH take out both unsupervised. Until the other night when I stood in the doorway and watched him disappear to the back of the garage. I went out to look and realized he has been dumping all the recyclables in a pile in the back corner. Cleaned up easily, but it's one more thing he can't do independently any longer.

l7pla1w2

DW has developed a "thing" for cutting up paper with a scissors. She doesn't understand that the paper can be recycled as is ("Who would take it?"), so she cuts it up into little pieces of confetti that can't be recycled. (I read recently that most recycling programs won't accept paper from a shredder.) At least the cutting up keeps her occupied, because not much else does.

One of the few things DW can still do is laundry, and she does it obsessively. Our electric and gas bills are noticably higher now.

fmb

After the long journey is over, caregivers are often left with medical supplies and equipment that can be donated to various charities who distribute the items to those in need. I have located charities in my area who will take gently used wheelchairs, unopened bags of incontinence products, and even unopened catheter supplies with expiration dates far enough into the future. The charities' websites list the specific items they will and will not accept. You may be surprised at what can be donated.

annie51

Funny you should post this…my DH is not at the incontinence stage yet, but just yesterday I was thinking about all the trash and laundry it would generate when he does. I, too, try to be as green as possible and have cut down my use of paper towels, ziplock bags, plastic wrap, plastic grocery bags, etc. It will be frustrating for me to throw away so much trash, but I'll have to put that out of my mind!

ButterflyWings

I was already in agreement with the OP but the last 24 hours have really underscored this point.

DH ate something he shouldn’t have (hyper oral) and as poison control predicted, he’ll be ok but likely getting it out of his system involuntarily if you know what I mean. They were right. I’m using up gloves, wipes, incontinence briefs and liners, and Chux like never before.

As of today, he’s generating lots of clean up from both ends and I have never been so grateful for the Chux disposable pads, large sized adult wipes and ability to just throw soiled, stinky stuff OUT!

After all the blue glove duty & sleep deprivation trying to comfort him and also clean him up, I don’t even feel guilty about the BIG bag of trash we generated during this episode. Just grateful.

For perspective, the pads saved the couch twice last night (would have had to throw the furniture out, so I guess it it a fair trade off).

Otherwise, caregivers know we can get back to more sustainable and green practices in the future. But, yeah. So much garbage.