How to Safely Dispose of Old Medications and Other Household Drugs

(BPT) – Did you know that pharmaceuticals were detected in the surface water, groundwater, and drinking water in the U.S., according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development?

According to a study by Stericycle, 1 out of 4 admit to flushing leftover prescriptions down the drain, and another 25% reported throwing unused medications in the trash. If you are concerned about the environment, you can be part of the solution by taking advantage of new ways to safely dispose of unused medications.

Here are practical do’s and don’ts to follow when discarding old medications or other household drugs:

DO: Regularly clean out your medicine cabinet. Are there unused medications you no longer need? Expired over-the-counter medications or prescriptions? Make it a habit to regularly inventory your medications and remove expired, unwanted, and unneeded ones for disposal.

DON’T: Hold on to prescriptions you are no longer advised to take by your doctor. The Stericycle study found that Americans keep unused prescriptions either for future use (30%), because they fear their illness reoccurring (32%) or because they don’t know how to dispose of them (nearly 15%). However, keeping unused medications in your home can be unsafe and increases the risks of accidental ingestion or potential substance misuse.

DO: Use one of these safe disposal methods for discarding unused medications in your home:

• Use the Deterra Drug Deactivation and Disposal System, a safe medication disposal pouch that can be used at home. It is the safest, most effective choice used to destroy and properly dispose of unused, unwanted, and expired over-the-counter and prescription medications. It permanently deactivates drugs in many forms including pills, patches, liquids, films, and creams — with the simple addition of tap water. Easily available on Amazon, and in their online store, Deterra’s proprietary activated carbon renders drugs inert and harmless, and its plant-based packaging and non-toxic ingredients prevent harmful chemicals from entering landfills and water supplies.
• Find a drug take-back program in your community. These collection sites or drop boxes may be located at a nearby hospital, clinic pharmacy, or law enforcement agency. Sometimes you may also find pop-up drug collection events being held throughout the year. Be sure to ask what types of medications the program will accept, as some will not take liquids.

DON’T: Flush medications down the toilet, put them down the drain, or throw them in the trash. While some sources may advise flushing pills or mixing meds with coffee grounds or kitty litter to make them unappealing to potential poachers, these methods do not render active chemicals inert and allow harmful ingredients to make their way into the water and soil after being discarded.

“It’s up to all of us — hospitals, clinics, families, and individuals to ensure that we’re preventing medications from polluting our environment,” said Nancy Devine, chief operating officer at Verde Environmental Technologies Inc. “The good news is, it’s not hard to do the right thing to keep hazardous substances from harming the planet.”