Michelle has decided to have a weekly Thinking Green post, to be published at any time during the week.
Just a brief one. I was watching TV today and saw a short piece on the fact that the State of Delaware is having a day when everyone can bring all of their old, unwanted prescription medications to designated sites to be disposed of. I think this is a really super idea.
Dumping old medications into toilet or trash is really dangerous. It can contaminate our water supply. I'm pretty sure most of us at one time or another has been guilty of doing this, without thinking. Of course they can be taken to hospitals or some drug stores for disposal, but that just isn't done that often.
Wouldn't it be a great idea if all states, or municipalities would have such a day to clean out our medicine chests? They could do it once a month, or at least every so often, and our drinking water would be a lot safer. And we wouldn't be tempted to use old, out-dated meds from time to time.
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Lily has asked in her comment how we can dispose of meds safely ourselves.
We are told that we can mix them into kitty litter or coffee grounds, and put them into a sealed container in the trash. Personally, I don't understand how even that makes them safe, but that is what the experts tell us. I do not know how they are treated by the authorities after we return them to drug stores, etc. I'll have to investigate that.
4 comments:
I remember when it was thought safe to flush them down the toilet.
I wonder how they are disposed of safely. It would be a great thing to know how to do ourselves.
This is important info Bobbie. The county had one of these things a while back and collected a lot of meds....Michelle
I've heard that some out-dated meds that are handed in are then sent to developing countries for communities that cannot afford medications. I'm not sure how true that is and I'd hope that only the out-dated meds that are still safe to use are sent. I do like the idea of meds being passed along to folk who need them and can't afford them. As long as they're not harmful to anybody of course.
I'm with Lily H - I also recall when the "experts" were the ones saying to flush them. I don't think I ever did. It seemed ridiculously stupid to me even at the time.
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