I don’t know about you, but when I’m trying to get rid of unwanted or expired prescription drugs, I usually toss them in the trash. I’m not alone: about 54% of consumers do the same, and 35% flush them down the toilet. [Source]
Well, it turns out, this isn’t that great for the environment. It’s a no-brainer when you think about it, but it didn’t really occur to me until I read this article. When you toss your prescription meds out with the trash, they go straight to landfills. But landfills can leak, so your drugs can leach into the soil. Similarly, when you flush your meds down the toilet, they can contaminate waterways.
What is particularly scary about the latter is that “trace amounts of medications have been found in drinking-water supplies, causing growing concern about the effect of those drugs on aquatic life and humans.” A recent five-month investigation uncovered water contamination in the drinking water of 24 major metropolitan areas. Prescription medications were found in low concentrations, including sec hormones, antibiotics, mood stabilizers, anti-convulsants and more. Yikes!
Fortunately, there are a few programs in place, such as the Green Pharmacy Program, which takes back unused medications. In the Bay Area, there are quite a few locations where you can drop off your meds; nationally, you can find a location here. Unfortunately, locations are limited, but I’m hopeful that there will be more in the future. Check out this great program and take care in disposing your meds in the future!
I have read a lot on how pharmaceuticals leach into the ground and are in our tap water. As if we don’t have enough problems with hormones in our meats and pesticides on our food, we’re now intaking it through our water supply as well. Knowledge is power.
Dagny McKinley
http://www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel
That’s a scary thought. Isn’t it funny how a little bit of knowledge can change ones actions about a particular process. No more drugs down the toilet.
I recently learned about paper receipts. It takes 9 million destroyed trees per year to produce the required receipt paper for U.S. needs. And over 3.9 billion lbs of CO2 is released into earths atmosphere every year throughout the production process!
Here’s an idea: Rather than a store printing my receipt on paper, which is horrible for our environment, email it to me.
Here’s another thing I found. http://www.allEtronic.com is free to use, and allows me to get my receipts sent to me digitally. Check it out…I’m stoked on it!