We all have our own little secret waste sites; Mine is this quiet, peaceful little river that I often use a personal sanctuary to reflect on what I have accomplished. It is nestled behind an Elementary school out in the middle of No Man's Land.
So yesterday morning, I got up early around 11:30AM and packed up a pallet's worth of my old needles from my last 22-week cycle and drove on down to the riverbank. I had filled a few laundry baskets full of needles, bloody tissues, bandaids, and broken ampules but made sure to wrap them in big Hefty bags so the Danger-Factor would be eliminated.
I sat there for a while smoking some cigarettes just marveling at the calmness.
Then, I grabbed the bags out of the laundry basket and heaved them into the water. Then...a problem.
One of the Hefty bags split wide open and the contents spilled all over the grass. This isolated river is only about 30 feet from the fenced-in playground where the toddlers swing on the monkey bars. I became afraid that a child may decide to open the gate on the fence to investigate the contaminated abundance of dangerous materials I had decided to leave there. I mean, I wasn't about to pick this stuff up - what if I stuck myself with a dirty needle? I figured the school janitors were experienced waste management pee-ons so they could handle this little mess! Then, I came to my senses and became relieved that a child knows better NOT to open the fence because the riverbank could be a hazard.
My only concern now is what if someone catches on to my dump site? Where does everyone else throw their dirty needles when they are used? You can't just walk into a hospital and submit these hazards! Any help is much appreciated!
