Medication Disposal Tips: How to Safely Clear Out Your Meds
- Mainline Pharmacy
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Is your medicine cabinet filling up with expired or unused meds? While it may seem harmless to let them sit, keeping old prescriptions can pose serious risks to both your household and the environment. Unused medications are more likely than many realize to fall into the wrong hands, leading to misuse, accidental poisoning, and other preventable dangers. Proper medication disposal is not just a personal responsibility; it is a vital step you can take to protect your loved ones, your community, and the environment. ¹
Accidental Use/Medication Misuse Risks
Keeping unused medications around can increase the risk of misuse or accidental harm. If left unsecured, children, pets, older adults, or teenagers may access them unintentionally. Shared medicine cabinets, look-alike pills, and outdated prescriptions or dosages can all contribute to confusion and potential safety issues.
Storing expired or unwanted medicines can increase the risk of:
Taking the wrong medicine due to mix-ups
Accidental poisoning in children or pets
Overdose
Misuse or illegal abuse ²
Proper Medication Storage
Keeping the people around you safe also means keeping personal medications out of reach. It is important when taking medication for yourself to keep it high up, away, and out of sight from pets, teens, and small children. Avoid keeping them in purses, on countertops, and on nightstands. This prevents others from accidentally accessing your prescription medications.
Not disposing of meds in the right way can also have negative environmental effects. Flushing or pouring meds down the drain can potentially break down in the environment. This can lead to polluted water resources that affect fish and other marine life.
How to Properly Dispose of Medications
The best way to safely dispose of expired medications is to bring them to a medication take-back location. There are many facilities and businesses registered with the DEA to collect unused or expired medications. The DEA periodically hosts National Prescription Drug Take-Back events. During these take-back days, temporary drug take-back locations are set up in communities nationwide for safe disposal of prescription drugs. Utilizing these locations near you is a great option to safely dispose of your medications. ³
When a take-back option is not readily available, there are steps to dispose of medications at home. Some medications can cause harm if not disposed of immediately after use, so they have specific directions to flush them down a sink or toilet when finished. The label will indicate flushing instructions on medications that qualify. Almost all medicines that are not on the FDA flush list can be thrown in the household trash. To do so:
Remove the medicine from its original container and mix it with something unappealing, like used coffee grounds or dirt. Do not crush pills or capsules.
Place the mixture in a sealable plastic bag or a leak-proof container, then dispose of it in the trash.
Remove all personal information from the prescription label. You can scratch it off or cover it with a permanent marker or duct tape.
Dispose of the empty medicine bottles with your regular trash, or wash and repurpose them for storing screws, nails, or other household items. ⁴
Tips to Stay on Top of Medications
Staying on top of your medications can make a significant difference in noticing and practicing regular medication disposal. To catch unused medications, make sure you are regularly checking expiration dates and clearing out any expired pill bottles or prescriptions. Another key factor is knowing the signs that medicines should be discarded. You should get rid of medications if:
Your health care provider changes your prescription, but you still have some medicine left.
You feel better, and your provider says you should stop taking the medicine.
You have OTC medicines that you no longer need.
You have medicines that are past their expiration dates. ²
How Your Pharmacy Can Help
When you need to dispose of medication, there are safer options than you might think. If you're unsure where to start, your local pharmacist can provide guidance on how to properly get rid of unwanted medicine. They can direct you to the best drug take-back locations, local events, or mail-back envelopes. Take-back sites are a reliable resource for disposal, ensuring your meds are disposed of correctly. Finding a convenient location near you is simple, and you can do so by:
Using Google Maps and typing in “drug disposal near me” or “medication disposal near me” to find your nearest drug disposal location
Utilizing the Year-Round Drop-Off Locations search on the DEA website
Calling the DEA Diversion Control Division Registration Call Center at 1-800-882-9539 for more information about these drug take-back locations ³
Managing many medications is not easy, so asking your pharmacist to review your medications is a great way to help manage your regimen. Your pharmacist can walk you through your medications, when to take them, and answer any questions you have. Med reviews can help you better understand your medications, prevent waste, and reduce the risk of duplicates and accidental use.
Staying aware of your medication and how it could affect the ones around you is key to practicing safe medication use and disposal. Getting rid of old or expired prescriptions properly prevents many risks like accidental use or mix-ups, damage to the environment, poisoning, or others getting into your meds. There are multiple resources at your fingertips, like drug take-back locations, envelopes, or FDA flushing guidelines for at-home disposal. By adopting these sustainable medication practices, we can care for our healthcare needs in an eco-friendly and responsible way, while also protecting our environment and the people around us.
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