Don’t Flush Those Meds! Dispose of Old Medications Safely
Environment: Green, Sustainable, Recycle, Reuse, Health and Medical, Safety and Security Add comments
Longmont United Hospital, our local hospital, is having its annual “pharmaceutical take-back day” tomorrow from 8-2 pm just inside the main entrance, and it’s free.
Don’t flush your medications as they go into your water systems and we ALL get to share in the cocktail of pharma for years to come. YIKES! Think estrogen . . . seen any man-boobs lately? I rest my case!! Read more below.
Check with your local hospitals and see if they can take your unused and unwanted medications to dispose of properly.
TIPS ABOUT MEDICATION DISPOSAL
1. DO NOT Flush Them Down the Toilet or Pour Down the Sink
Why? Experts say it may have potential harmful effects on the environment and to us. Disposal via the toilet takes your drugs into the local sewage system. Modern water treatment plants are not fully designed to deal with medication disposal. The long-term health risks posed by consumption of even minute quantities of these medications in drinking water and the full extent of environmental damage remains unknown.
Plus, these drugs can leach into the local water table, eventually coming out somewhere, like a nearby lake or stream, or even worse out onto your own property, where pets, livestock or wildlife could be at risk.
2. Don’t Throw Them Into the Trash
Safety experts say “no.” First, kids and pets can find them. Then, your trash will eventually make it to a local landfill, where your medications could still have the potential to leach out (see water above).
DO THIS: Many municipal or local trash services now have local household waste facilities where you can safely drop off your medications for incineration. Call your local trash service for options in your area.
3. Return Them to Your Pharmacy
Pharmacies are not required to take back your unused medications, but some will.
DO THIS: Check with your local pharmacies and drugstore chains as some do sponsor regular “clean out your medicine cabinet” drives where customers can return old, expired or unused medications, supplements and other over-the-counter products. Call your local drugstore or pharmacy for options in your area.
4. Return Them to Your Doctor
Not all physicians or doctor offices will take them. Some may not be fully prepared to safely handle the process.
DO THIS: Call ahead to see if your doctor can offer safer medication disposal methods. Plus, as in the beginning article above, check with your local hospital to find out if they have a “take back” day.
5. Sell them.
Nooooooo! I’m just kidding! But, I know that crossed your mind, right?!
There are plenty of people who have 18+ gallon tubs of bottles filled with medications that “were just not the right one” before the doctor changed the script one more time. It’s very frustrating, not to mention costly, however clean out your tubs and dispose of properly. Let - it - go! See #’s 1-4 above.
Want
to Start Your Own
September 25th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
In some towns/cities the local police departments accept excess, expired/unused meds, etc. and take care of the proper disposal of such. The local PD in my area doesn’t do that but the PD of the city immediately to the south does… and, thankfully, they do not require that the person dropping off the meds be a resident of that area. Just an FYI.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Hi! Thanks a lot Dr. DeClutter for this helpful site. I really love it.
I always think of how getting rid of old stuff. I sometimes try to find less fortunate people who might be in need them. But what about old computers which get broken and we can’t have them fixed? I feel pity to think of trashing them.
March 25th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
When it comes to men’s wellness, one of the matters I am passionate about is gynecomastia, and alot of that is due to the fact that I lived it, and all of the distraught affects which it can have on a person. So although these wild names for it like man boobs and moobs have cropped up, I am thankful that there are still publishers who let in some actual, helpful information about it and not just gags. Jokes are ok, as long as they don’t overshadow the fact that this is a issue which many men and boys suffer with, and that whether they let us know it or not, that it moves their lives in unimaginable ways. It is not as easy as doing some bench presses and taking down your fat intake, not to mention the emotional getting by. Thanks for anything that you can do to raise this message. Lets all do our part in the crusade to combat chest fat
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