polly13

The County recycling teams up with Fire Depts. to have drop-offs of old meds a couple of times a year. I save the containers in a plastic bag until that day comes. I have seen signs in drug stores that will collect them. I would highly encourage local fire depts. or drug stores to begin the program if one isn't available in your area.

alwayslearning

Prescriptions are not necessarily benign just because we ingest them. They are often meant to kill something in our system. As that type of medicine biodegrades, it is putting that whatever killed bad things in us into the soil and or water.

BarbM32

What we do not take it burned.

Onebyone

We are on a septic system so I can flush the pills.

luce321

I saw some where that you should put them all in one bottle and pour Elmer's glue over them until they are covered, then dispose of the bottle in the garbage. This is what I do.

luvTooQuilt

We can take them to a free clinic - next to the homeless kitchen. They give them out to those in need that cannot afford the meds.

Sheila_H

I'm a nurse and I've never heard of a pharmacy saying they won't take the old pills that is the proper way to get rid of them. You may have talked to a Pharmacy Tech that could be a student or not know what the proper procedures are. You can't flush them down the toilet as it will go to the water reservoir. Call your pharmacy and ask to speak to the Pharmacist if he says no call one of the other ones. A fire department with an EMT service would be a good alternate place to go, they take disposable needles, etc.

TanyaL

When anything is flushed down the toilet it goes into the sewer and then into a sewerage treatment plant. This is not a water reservoir. A water reservoir is a holding area, frequently a lake, for future drinking water. It is not sewerage. The two types of water are treated entirely differently to different standards with different chemicals. In some cities the drains along the streets are not part of the sewer system and are not treated but empty directly into canals or rivers.

CarolynW

Our local police department and fire department will take them. Periodically they have "drives" to encourage people to bring them in because teens and kids often experiment with them. I think it's a shame they couldn't be recycled and sent to medical missionaries in countries that aren't as prosperous as we are. It's such a waste, but better than going into our ground water and perhaps killing fish, birds, etc.

GwynR

There are a few antibiotics that become toxic with age also. Tetracycline is one.