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Five Tips For Disposing Of Unused Medications

If you have any medications in your home that you are no longer using, you are going to want to dispose of them right away, especially if you have children in your home. This is because you do not want any medications to be abused. You should also dispose of them once they expire since they will no longer provide any use anyway. However, you cannot just throw medications in the trash. Instead, you will need to dispose of them properly. Here are five tips for doing this:

  1. Drop Off at Disposal Location: The area in which you live should have regular disposal times for dropping off unused or expired medications. You will need to gather all of your medications and drop off at these locations. You can find times and dates online, as well as the location details. 
  2. Tamper With the Medications: If the drop off locations or times for dropping off old or unused medications is not convenient for you, you can dispose of the medications in the trash, but you will need to tamper with the medication first. For example, you will need to dissolve pills with water and for liquid medication, you will need to add flour to it, which absorbs the liquid and makes the effect of the medication null. 
  3. Block Out Patient Information:  Before you dispose of medicine bottles, be sure that you block out patient information that is shown on the label. This way, no one can use the information in an attempt to collect more medications. 
  4. Do Not Dump Down the Sink or Flush Down the Toilet: In an easier way to get rid of medications, people will sometimes flush it or dump it down the sink. The problem with this is that it can have major damage to the environment and animals. This is because certain medications can destroy plants and, if consumed by animals, can cause serious harm and illness. 
  5. Don't Let Medications Leak: Once you dissolve the pills and add flour to liquid medications, you need to keep it sealed back in its original container to prevent leaking. This is important for the same reasons you do not want to dump medications in the sink or flush them down the toilet. 

When you consider these five tips, you can be sure that you are not causing any damage to others, the environment, or animals when you get rid of any old medications in your home. To learn more, contact a hazardous waste disposal company.


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