Tips for Disposing of Medications

Don't flush that leftover medicine down the toilet!

Flushing unwanted and leftover medicine can cause contamination to our aquatic environment.  Wastewater treatment systems are not designed to remove many of these medications.

To help protect our environment, please follow these guidelines.

1. Keep in the original container.  This will help identify the contents if they are accidentally ingested.
2. For confidentiality purposes, mark out any personal information and the prescription number.
3. For pills, add some water or soda to dissolve them.  For liquids, add something absorbant like cat litter or dirt.
4. Close the lid and secure with duct or packing tape.
5. Place medicine container inside another non see-through container like a detergent container.  Tape container closed.
6. Hide the container in the trash.  Do not put in the recycling bin.

• DO NOT give medications to anyone else.
• DO NOT flush medications down the toilet.
• DO NOT put medications in the trash without disguising them.