When it comes to clearing a house, there is always the problem of what to do with any medication you find in the house. However, it is not quite as simple as just flushing medications down the toilet to get rid of them.
Flushing down the toilet
This is actually the worst thing you can do with unused medications. In a world that is increasingly environmentally conscious, flushing medications down the toilet can lead to environmental contamination causing problems for wildlife as well as introducing the medications into the main water supply. Though you may think the amount that you are adding to the water is minimal, it can cause lasting damage to the environment and should be avoided at all costs.
Putting them in the bin
Binning medications, even those still sealed, is also not the best idea either. Not only is it adding needlessly to landfill, but you run the risk of children and wild animals getting their hands or paws on the medications. The danger to children is far greater than to animals, but even so, simply binning medications is not a good idea. Even if no animals or children find the medications, it can cause contamination, especially if they somehow wind up in a compost heap.
Pouring them down the sink
Like flushing medications down the toilet, pouring them down the sink has the same effect. Not only do you risk polluting the water supply, but also damaging your local environment.
What can I do with medications?
Though the avenues that you might have thought were the best and easiest ways to get rid of medication are really not a good idea, you might be wondering what you can do with medications during a house clearance (and it applies to medications that you may no longer need too). Well, the answer is quite simple – recycle them.
We’re not talking about going down to the local tip and asking where their medication recycling station is. What we mean is going to your local chemist or pharmacy and handing over your medications there to be recycled. Roughly £300,000,000 is lost every year on prescribed medication that don’t get used. Recycling your medications can not only help to prevent environmental contamination but help save the NHS money that could be better spent on other areas.
Medication Packaging
The blister packs that pills come in cannot currently be recycled and will need to be binned. The cardboard packaging and the information pamphlet inside can be and should be recycled in with your other paper and cardboard products.
A Note on Inhalers
Inhalers are something that should never be simply thrown away. They contain powerful greenhouses gasses that must be neutralised before the inhaler is disposed of. The way to do this is by returning your inhaler/s to your pharmacist or chemist. They will not only dispose of the inhalers safely, but they will also neutralise the greenhouses gases inside them before recycling them.
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