How you safely clean out your medicine cabinet while spring cleaning

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The spring-like temperatures are inspiring some to get ahead on spring cleaning, but when it comes to your medicine cabinet, sometimes the clutter can be stressful, and even in some cases, dangerous.

Sometimes our medicine cabinets can become cluttered, especially as we get older. The medicines start to pile up, and it can become confusing to know what you need and what can get thrown away. Expired medications are always something that you need to throw away, but you cannot dispose them the same way you could regular trash. There are a few ways to dispose of medications, but one pharmacist says there is a best way to get rid of them.

“The best way is to use the drug takeback boxes, and those are located throughout the town and various places like drugstores of Meijer, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens. They have drug take back boxes. So when you’re finished with the medication, you can just take it to that area and put it in a box. It’s secure. So that’s the very best way,” said Glee Lenoir, pharmacy clinical coordinator with Med Center Health.

Those expired medications do pose a threat, especially when ingested. Unlike what most people think, medications that expires don’t just lose their potency, they can change their whole chemical makeup, turning them into something very dangerous.

“Most people think that just because when they when medications expire, that they just get less potent. But that is not the case at all. They can actually change chemically and become something that’s hazardous. So we know that about a number of drugs. There have been several examples of really bad things that have happened to people who have taken medications that were expired,” Lenoir says.

If you are unable to get rid of your expired or unused medications with the drug takeback boxes, there are other ways to safely dispose of them. Flushing is a common method, however, the Environmental Protection Agency has run tests and studies that show that some medications can leak into the water supply and taint the water we use everyday. Some drugs are safe to flush down the drain though, and the FDA has compiled a list of medications that are safe to flush, which you can find here.

Another way is by purchasing a pre-paid drug takeback envelope. After purchase, one will be sent to you, where you can place your medications inside of the envelope and send them back to be disposed of by professionals. If you are unable to do any of those, Lenoir says that you can throw some in the trash after taking the right step. If you place the drugs in a container with something unpleasant like cat litter, mud, dirt or coffee grounds, that gross material is likely to turn away anyone who is looking for them in the garbage.

Lenoir also stresses to always finish your prescribed medications and to never share, as your prescription is detailed for your needs and may cause serious reactions in other individuals if the medications are shared.