April 27, 2013, is the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day! That makes this month a great time to clean your medicine cabinets.
Place anything that has expired or is no longer needed in a separate bag for proper disposal. Pills that you no longer use but that haven’t expired can be donated to some non-profit clinics for patients in need. Since not all clinics accept medicines, I recommend calling before bringing over your donations.
Expired medicines and ones that can’t be donated should be destroyed so they can’t be found and misused. Unfortunately, the old advice to crush and throw them out or flush them down the drain can lead to these powerful chemicals contaminating our water. The Office of Diversion Control (part of the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration) sponsors National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day to help ensure old medicines are responsibly destroyed. The annual Take-Back Day falls on Saturday, April 27, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Click here to enter your zip code to find the nearest location to drop off medications for safe disposal.
For more information on the National Take-Back Initiative Collection.
Experts advise that you cross off your personal information off the bottle labels before dropping off prescription drugs. Expired over-counter medicines can be dropped off here as well.
Earth day is on April 22nd this year! Even small steps make a HUGE difference to help the earth.