At least don’t throw it out until you have done some very important things. Those things could prevent you from having some difficult situations.
This isn’t about fly fishing, so you can tune out if you wish - but I’ll bet you will encounter this problem yourself at some point.
While I’m very careful about anything with account numbers (they burn very well), I’ve never given a second thought to the medicine bottles. I’ll start soaking those labels off or at least tear them off so they can’t be read.
You also hit on a great thought on the Board. Those old style automatic reels that no one uses anymore could be a godsend to our soldiers in Project Healing Waters. What a great way to recycle those reels.
REE
Deanna, thank you for the important info. While I like to think I’m cautious, I would have, and have done the same thing. Now I know better.
Kelly.
“Livingston MT just had the first Park County prescription drug take-back. The program was initiated by the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation. Local sponsors included the Park County Sheriff’s Office, Livingston Police Department and Southwest Chemical Dependency Program. Sheriff Allan Lutes said the program has several goals. One is to keep potentially dangerous drugs out of landfills.
“This program gets unwanted, outdated drugs out of homes, so they can be properly disposed of without contaminating the environment,” Lutes said. Another goal is “to keep painkillers from being stolen and used illegally”, he said. “No questions are asked” when people bring drugs in. No names are collected and all collections are anonymous. “We hope to make this a regular event,” the sheriff said. The drug take-back was a big success, according to Sheriff Allan Lutes with more than 7 pounds of drugs collected, not including containers. (Information provided by Liz Kearney of the Livingston Enterprise.)”
what is their method of disposal of the 7 pounds of drugs they collected??
Disposal of out of date medications is a problem. In our pharmacy we pay to send them to a company that burns them in a medical waste certified incinerator. The Virginia dept of environmental quality suggests defacing the meds and putting them in the landfill. Landfills have liners that seal in waste and keep them from entering the groundwater. I dont think there is an easy answer, incineration releases something into the air, the landfills are filling, and flushing is definately the worst solution. Its a matter of picking the lesser of evils. For VDEQ’s stance http://www.deq.virginia.gov/export/sites/default/recycle/RecyclingLinesJan2010.pdf
Okay I should have asked, so I just called the Sheriff and he told me the drugs which were turned in go to the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation (Helena Montana) where the drugs are dissolved in water for 30 days, then disposed of in a landfill. That’s what is done here.
I find the labels peel off without much trouble, the bottles are great to put flies in you are going to give to someone and need to transport them a little while. In south Louisiana where my Mom lives, the sheriff’s office came and took all of his prescriptions the night my Dad passed away.
When the doctor prescribes you a prescription for a medication, he or she not only prescribes, the name of the medicine, the dosage, the number of units to be dispensed by the pharmacist are listed (along with how many you take and at what interval) until all medicine has been taken.
The prescription is supposed to be use until all the units of medication have to administered. There should not be any units left in the bottle. That way there is none left to somehow enter our ecosystem. I know that some of the medicines you have taken might not be absorbed by the body, and some are washed out of the body in the body waste, and ends up being flushed down the toilet. But that is a small percentage, compared to flushing the medicine down the toilet.
Take you medicine (as prescribed) until it is all gone, do not stop taking the medicine, because you are starting to feel better, and think that you know better than the doctor.
As for removing the labels, from the containers, a pan of hot water will help remove the labels and obliterate the information. As for those plastic medicine bottles with a “Child Proof” cap that only children are able to remove, most of those are recyclable plastics, on the bottom of the bottle should be a triangle symbol with either the number “1” or “2” inside the triangle symbol. These are recyclable, and can be used in making more plastic containers.
If you have things in the household that are damaging to the environment, under Federal Law, every County in every State, has procedures for you to properly dispose of these items. Just call your local City/County/State Waste Management to find the nearest site to turn these items in for proper (and safe) disposal ~Parnelli
Medicines are chemicals and I have been trained in containing contaminations, as a NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) Specialist in the U.S. Army (also was a Senior Instructor of same). Many time I have be called on to help local authorities with problems that they did not know how to handle, or did not have the expertise in how to deal with the problem.
steven, I must respectfully disagree with you on a couple points. While many meds should be taken until completed, esp antibiotics and drugs that treat chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc., some medicines should not be completely consumed. These are prn or “as needed” drugs, such as pain meds (as in Ladyfisher’s case), and drugs for cough, nausea, diarrhea, laxatives, panic or anxiety attacks, migraines, meds for asthma attacks (not the ones who treat chronic asthma), symptomatic relief of colds or flu (not antibiotics or antivirals), to name a few. Small amounts of these are rightly left over after their need has passed, and will need to be disposed of. Of course, if a prescribed med causes a side effect of allergic reaction, it needs to be stopped immediately and the doctor notified. These too, must be disposed of. Also, in my experience, Rx vials are usually recycle number 5, not 1 or 2, and these are not accepted for recycling in some jurisdictions. Even if you can recycle these, you need to remove personal info from the labels. I dont mean to nit pick, but many folks have leftover meds as did Ladyfisher and it is not because they didnt follow the doctor’s advice.