50+: Live Better, Longer

Dos and Don'ts of Drug Safety

Dispose of Old Medications Properly continued...

Other drugs can be disposed of with your household garbage. When throwing away medications in the trash, follow these medication disposal guidelines:

• Remove drugs from their original containers and remove or scratch out identifying information from container labels.
• Crush pills or capsules or dissolve them in water. (Mix liquid medications in water too.)
• Mix crushed or dissolved medications with kitty litter, saw dust, coffee grounds, or another substance that will absorb them and make them undesirable.
• Put drug mixture into a sealable plastic bag or bottle with a screw-on lid and place in trash.

Another option is to take advantage of community drug take-back programs that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for proper disposal. Call your city or county government’s household trash and recycling service (see blue pages in phone book) or check with your pharmacy to see if a take-back program is available in your community.