Happy Earth Day Everyone! I thought today would be the perfect day to check in with our Groovy Green Goddess, Christina! She has written some information for us to read that I think coming from this pharmacist would be of very useful information to all of us. That you Christina!
As the winter months continue, my family and I tend to get out of the cold and stay indoors. The more time I spend indoors means the more time I have to find things to keep me occupied inside which ultimately leads to "winter cleaning". I was going through the medicine cabinet the other day and discarding old medications. The "old way" was to flush expired or unwanted medication down the toilet or wash it down the sink, however significant traces of drugs are showing up in rivers, lakes and some water treatment centers. These traces could affect fish and other wildlife and potentially exacerbate the ongoing problem of antibiotic resistance. The best way to discard "unwanted" medication is to mix it in something unpalatable before disposing of it in the trash. Examples would be cat litter, coffee grounds, old leftovers from the fridge, or anything that would prevent someone from digging it back out of the trash. Also, by sending it to a landfill, the medication is able to break down and lose potency before reaching water sources. Any patches applied to the skin should be folded in half (sticky on top of sticky) so that children and pets cannot get the medication on their skin if digging in the trash. Destroy the prescription label and if you can get the label off the bottle then recycle it otherwise discard it. area hospitals or local clincs may have programs where they takein unwanted medication for proper disposal. Some states have hazardous waste facilities that can dispose of prescription medications. Choose whichever way works best for you and be sure to spread the word..."no more flushing"!
As the winter months continue, my family and I tend to get out of the cold and stay indoors. The more time I spend indoors means the more time I have to find things to keep me occupied inside which ultimately leads to "winter cleaning". I was going through the medicine cabinet the other day and discarding old medications. The "old way" was to flush expired or unwanted medication down the toilet or wash it down the sink, however significant traces of drugs are showing up in rivers, lakes and some water treatment centers. These traces could affect fish and other wildlife and potentially exacerbate the ongoing problem of antibiotic resistance. The best way to discard "unwanted" medication is to mix it in something unpalatable before disposing of it in the trash. Examples would be cat litter, coffee grounds, old leftovers from the fridge, or anything that would prevent someone from digging it back out of the trash. Also, by sending it to a landfill, the medication is able to break down and lose potency before reaching water sources. Any patches applied to the skin should be folded in half (sticky on top of sticky) so that children and pets cannot get the medication on their skin if digging in the trash. Destroy the prescription label and if you can get the label off the bottle then recycle it otherwise discard it. area hospitals or local clincs may have programs where they takein unwanted medication for proper disposal. Some states have hazardous waste facilities that can dispose of prescription medications. Choose whichever way works best for you and be sure to spread the word..."no more flushing"!
