Cathedral City - The City of Cathedral City has received an award for its innovative Sharps Disposal by Mail Program. The program is just one of the many creative conservation programs managed by Deanna Pressgrove, the City's Environmental Conservation Manager.

The award comes from the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA), The award will be presented on August 4th during the 33rd annual CRRA Statewide Conference & Tradeshow in Rancho Mirage, California.

In May of 2005, Cathedral City, in partnership with Sharps Compliance, Inc., became the first city in the nation to offer a free and confidential program to help residents safely dispose of used hypodermic needles, syringes and lancets.

Now in its fourth year, this innovative program is being studied and even duplicated in other cities. Indian Wells, a nearby desert city with a population of 4,430 people, recently adopted the Sharps Disposal by Mail.

It is estimated that approximately 482,000 needles and syringes were diverted from local landfills.

The Sharps Disposal by Mail program is not a needle exchange program, nor will it lead to a needle exchange program.

An estimated one out of every twelve households in America includes a person who must self-administer injections to treat diabetes, allergies, HIV and other medical conditions. Most self-injectors require several doses of medication daily through the use of hypodermic needles, syringes and lancets, more commonly known as "sharps". Based upon these figures, Cathedral City estimates that they have approximately 1,400 self-injectors producing over 460,000 needles yearly.

Unfortunately, this practice can jeopardize the health and safety of other local citizens. Improperly discarded sharps surface in household trash or recycling containers, where an accidental needle prick can cause serious harm to children, families and workers. Used needles can transmit blood-borne pathogens, including HIV and hepatitis. Employees at landfills, recycling centers and trash-sorting facilities who handle our refuse are at risk of injury and infection by diseases spread through used sharps. In addition, used needles and syringes end up in the municipal waste stream, releasing toxins that pollute the soil, air and water.

The City regularly sends out informative postcards about the Sharps Disposal by Mail program to over 23,000 households in the community. Interested parties can bring the postcard to one of four participating local pharmacies to enroll in the mail-back system. Residents did not need to have an account with the pharmacy. Once the individual provides proof of city residency, each person is given a specially designed sharps container and mail back box free-of-charge. Program participants can receive up to three free hard plastic containers a year, which provides a safe method for storing up to 100 home-generated sharps. Once the container is filled, the individual seals the container, places it in the prepackaged corrugated shipping box and brings it to a nearby post office or mailing house. When received, Sharps Compliance, Inc., a partner on the project, responsibly destroys the used needles at permitted medical waste facilities.

You can get more information on this program and Cathedral City's many other innovative environmental conservation programs at the Cathedral City website, www.cathderalcity.gov.