OK – on a scale of 1 to 10, what kind of recycler are you? (1 being “I have no idea what you are talking about?” and 10 being “I am going to stand over you and wait to see what you do with that paper coffee cup when you are finished.”)
It is hard to be objective and judge oneself on one’s own behavior, and like most things, there is a range of acceptable choices for sure. I am good at recycling certain things like newspaper, milk cartons, and water bottles. (Oh dear, did I just admit to buying bottled water!?)
I am not so good; I hate to admit, at recycling other things. My husband cannot understand how I NEVER think to recycle the empty laundry detergent bottle. I swear I just don’t have the recycle bin on my mind when I am starting a new load of laundry, putting the previous load in the dryer and wondering why I am the only person in the household that knows how to fold clothes!! But I digress…
What has my laundry life to do with AT, one might surely be asking by this point….well, my goal here is to chat about the REQUIPMENT program, believe it or not.
“We live in a disposable society. It's easier to throw things out than to fix them. We even give it a name - we call it recycling." – Neil LaBute
Not so with the REQUIPMENT program! They FIX things! All kinds of DME (durable medical equipment) things and then they make them available to you!
“DMErequipment.org offers free gently-used, refurbished wheelchairs and other DME to people who need it.” – www.massmatch.org Delivery is available within Greater Boston and they even have a searchable database of equipment: Search for available items here.
Sanitized and refurbished, you can find wheel chairs, scooters, rollators (rolling walkers), tub seats, standing frames, portable ramps, etc. Conversely, you can donate these types of ‘gently used’ items so that others can benefit from this much needed service. I highly recommend you contact Randi Sargent, the Program Manager at randi.sargent@dmerequipment.org for more information.
Still not finding what you need? Try www.getATStuff.org. This is the Assistive Technology Exchange covering all of New England and New York. Some of these devices are for sale and some are for free.
Please help spread the word about these wonderful programs and be sure to check back in with us and share your experiences with these organizations.
Warmest Regards,
Jean