World Wisdom: Safe Medication Disposal

Americans may not realize it but if they are tossing their prescription medicines in the household trash or flushing them down the toilet, they are actually adding to the nation’s pollution problem and potentially harming our critical natural resources. 

After being flushed or poured down the drain, many medications pass through sewer and septic systems. Because these systems can’t always treat or remove all the medications, they may end up in streams, lakes, and groundwater. This can cause adverse effects in fish and other aquatic wildlife as well as unintentional human exposure to chemicals.

In addition to harming our environment, disposing of medication in the trash, makes it easier for drugs to fall into the wrong hands and continue the cycle of misuse.

A recent survey showed that Americans often hold on to their unused prescriptions for future use, for fear of their illness returning or because they don’t know how to get rid of them. In fact, 47% of Americans currently have 1-3 bottles of unused prescriptions in their medicine cabinet followed by 8% with 4-6 bottles, 2% with more than 10 bottles and 2% with 7-10 bottles.

With no knowledge of safe disposal practices, one in four (25%) Americans admit to flushing leftover/unused prescription drugs down the drain, and another 25% toss unused prescriptions in the trash.

But you can be part of the solution to this problem. There’s a helpful strategy easily available that can help: drug deactivation and disposal pouches. They’re a safe, effective choice that can be used to destroy and properly dispose of unused, unwanted, and expired medications. With the simple addition of tap water, any medications placed in a pouch are rendered harmless by its patented activated carbon technology. Then, the plant-based pouch is completely safe to dispose of in normal household trash, preventing contamination of landfills and water systems.

On Wednesday, April 20, join Nancy Devine, Verde Environmental Technologies Inc. Chief Operating Officer as she outlines what you can do to be greener at home beginning this Earth Day. She’ll also provide details on how to keep your medications from polluting the environment by using safe deactivation and disposal methods.

Interview is courtesy: Verde Environmental Technologies