So you can probably guess from my recent posts that I like to do a lot of cleaning in the summer. I'm a teacher, so in the summer I have time to get to all the things on my super long to-do list, and on top of that I love to clean and organize...put those together and you've got one cleaning-organizing machine!Anyways, while cleaning this week the "I don't know what to do with this?" item I came across was old/expired medicine. You know that medicine that just sits in the back of your medicine cabinet that you save "just in case"...even though it's probably expired! Well in the past couple of years, as I became more natural with my food choices, I also became more natural with my medicine choices. So now instead of popping an Advil, I go to the chiropractor, or instead of taking DayQuil to fight off a cold I head to my naturopath for a natural supplement. Sometimes I wonder if our society is a little too over medicated...like we're just looking for a pill for every ill.
Well, back to the cleaning...when I came across all these old and expired medications I knew I was never going to use them again, and that I probably didn't want my hubby to use them, but what was I to do with them? Throw them in the trash? Didn't seem right, what if little animals and birds got into them? How about pour them down the sink or flush them in the toilet? Would they then contaminate the fish and waterways? Probably not good either. How about just leaving them in the medicine cabinet? No way, I'm detoxing the house for when we have a baby...get that toxic out of here! So, Google here I come!
I came across this website called: Dispose My Meds, which is a campaign started by the National Community Pharmacists Association to help consumers properly dispose of the old, unused, or expired medicine. Currently 800 community pharmacies in 40 states are taking part in this campaign, where consumers bring their old drugs to participating pharmacies and they will properly dispose of them at a medical-waste-disposal facilities. Truly, this is a much better option than throwing them into the trash, flushing them down the toilet, or leaving them in your home for young children to get into.
Also on their website I found some pretty shocking information about what happens when people flush their old drugs down the toilet or pour them in the sink. They describe how in several cities the public water supply was tested and they found traces of a number of pharmaceuticals actually in the water supply, such as: acetaminophen, mood stabilizers, antibiotics, heart/cholesterol medication, and even hormone supplements, just to name a few. Wow...I thought I only had to filter out chlorine, lead, bacteria, and the like from my water...who knew that medications are in there too?!
Here's a video describing the findings.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
So what can you do?
1- Go to DisposeMyMeds.org and search for a pharmacy near you where you can take your old medications.
1- Go to DisposeMyMeds.org and search for a pharmacy near you where you can take your old medications.
2- Gather your old meds...I took about 30 bottles of vitamins, old prescription allergy medications, nose sprays, natural supplements, and even dog medicine (see my pic of the bag I took at the top)! And they took it all, so it doesn't seem like there's a limit on the amount you can dispose of at one time. 
3- Take your meds to the pharmacy closest to you. For those of you in the Kansas City area, there's this pharmacy in Pleasant Hill (see pic to the right) and there's another in Shawnee Mission, KS.
4- Drop off your meds. You might have to fill out a small piece of paper just describing why you're disposing of the meds, where you bought them, and if you think more pharmacies should offer this program (yes!). It took me less than a minute.
5- Drive home, you're done! Now relax and enjoy knowing you got those toxic old meds out of your house and they won't contaminate any waterways, fish, animals, young kids or drinking water! Way to go green!
Want to watch a video of the process? Click below!
Hope this helps you to dispose of your old and expired meds! Do you guys know of any other campaigns or facilities where you can properly dispose of old and expired medicine? If you try out DisposeMyMeds.org, let me know how it goes for you! ( :
People always think I'm crazy when I don't want to pop an Advil for headaches and cramps. Thanks for the tip. I always wondered where to take our old prescriptions. I never thought about a pharmacy.
ReplyDeleteI know right! I read somewhere that after you're body heals from the orginal ailment (cramps, headache, etc.), it then has to detox from the meds that were taken! No thanks for me either...glad I'm not the only one doing this (:
ReplyDeleteHope you find a pharmacy close to you where you can take your old meds!
One time my father and I were having a conversation about BPA, and I mentioned something about pharmaceuticals in the water supply... then both topics show up in the next issue of Time (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601100412,00.html). I wish I had saved it!
ReplyDeleteDo you get good results from a chiropractor?
kitty,
ReplyDeleteGreat article! Wow, I didn't even think about all the meds that people "flush" out if their bodies on a daily basis and in to the waterways...kind of gross, but true. Those poor fish! I think it's funny how the experts say the doses are so low that it can't affect anyone, but seriously I don't want any meds in my water no matter how small! Who knows what that stuff can do long term!
Yeah I really like my chiropractor, it's part of my health insurance so I get 25-30 visits "free" a year, so I love that about it. Plus I've found that if I go about every two weeks or so I get less headaches, tension, and colds. It helps me to relax too, my chiropractor does some accupuncture as well so that's kind of interesting. It feels good to know there's no chemicals in my body! ( :