Spring cleaning.....what to Do with Old Perscriptions.

Hi,

Don't know where you are located, but here are some options. Visit www.SWANCC.org for additional information on their medicine disposal program.

The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County's Prescription Drug/Sharps Disposal Program ensures environmentally-safe disposal and guards against potential theft associated with disposing of old medications.

The program is for residentially-generated unused prescriptions, expired over-the-counter drugs, and needles known as “sharps”. No commercial or institutional waste will be accepted and IDs will be checked. Please keep medications in their original containers, as it is necessary to know what medications the contractor is dealing with. Personal information may be blacked out for safety. This program is for individuals living in one of SWANCC's 23 member communities.

In addition to disposing of medications and sharps, SWANCC will also provide a one-quart sharps container to SWANCC residents who administer home-injections. Containers can be obtained at designated drop-off locations. When the SWANCC sharps container is full, the resident should bring the container back to the drop-off location in their community for proper disposal.

Download SWANCC's Prescription Drug/Sharps Disposal Program Brochure.

Arlington Heights Senior Center

1801 W Central Road

###-###-####

First Thursday of each month from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Barrington

Public Safety Building

400 N Northwest Highway

###-###-####

First Saturday of each month, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.

Buffalo Grove

Village Hall - Health Department

50 Raupp Blvd

###-###-####

Appointments must be made in advance to drop off sharps by calling ###-###-####.

Elk Grove Village

Village Municipal Complex

901 Wellington

###-###-####

Monday through Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.


Evanston

Civic Center - ground floor

2100 Ridge Ave

###-###-####

Monday through Friday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Glencoe

Village Hall

675 Village Ct

###-###-####

Wednesdays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Glenview

Inspectional Services Annex, south of Village Hall

1215 Waukegan Rd

###-###-####

First Friday of each month, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Kenilworth

Police Department

419 Richmond Rd

###-###-####

Sunday - Saturday, 24 hours

Lincolnwood

Police Dept. in Village Complex

6900 N. Lincoln Ave

###-###-####

First Friday of each month - 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Morton Grove

Civic Center

6140 Dempster St

###-###-####

M - F - 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Niles

Senior Center

999 Civic Center Dr

###-###-####

Second Wednesday of Month during January, April, July and October from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.

Palatine

Village Hall - Environmental Health Division

200 E. Wood St

###-###-####

Monday through Friday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Sharps containers must have a clear visible lid or be opened by resident upon request to view contents.

Park Ridge

City Hall Health Department

505 Butler Pl

###-###-####

First Thursday of every month from 8:00 - 11:00 am.

Prospect Heights

City Hall

8 N Elmhurst Road

###-###-####, ext. 206

Monday through Friday fom 8:30 am - 4:30 pm.

Skokie

Village Hall - Health Department

5127 Oakton St

###-###-####

Monday through Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.

Wheeling

Fire Station 24 (Village Hall Complex)

255 W Dundee Rd

###-###-####

Third Saturday of each month - 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Wilmette

Wilmette Health Department - 2nd Floor of Village Hall

1200 Wilmette Ave

###-###-####

Second Tuesday of month from 7:30 am - 4:30 pm.

Winnetka

Fire Department

428 Green Bay Rd

###-###-####

Medications taken every Wednesday - 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Sharps taken M - F - 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Another option I recently heard of:

Bloomingdale Township Disposal and Reycling Programs

Bloomingdale Township and the Bloomingdale Police Department are partnering to host a Medication Disposal Program on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. Bring unwanted and expired medications to the Bloomingdale Township Senior Center, 6N050 Rosedale Road in Bloomingdale, from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm.

If you're in the Bloomingdale area or western suburbs, they're having an unused/ expired medication drop-off program this coming Wednesday! Below are the details and website link.

Bloomingdale Township Senior Center
6N050 Rosedale Rd
Bloomingdale, IL
Wed, April 1
9:00am-1:00pm
###-###-####
http://www.bloomingdaletownship.com/Services/MedDisposal.htm

Go to your local municipality website or Illinois Environmental Protection Agency website to find a date and/or location for drop off. NO MEDICINES should ever be flushed or thrown out with regular garbage. Most pharmacies just dump theirs out the same way people do which is contributing to contamination of water supplies (I'm a hydrogeologist). Waste water treatment plants are not designed to treat water for these types of products allowing them to enter streams, lakes, and other water bodies. You may have to wait a few more weeks but these sponsored drop off events are the safest way to dispose of any unused/wanted medications.

I've heard fire stations are collecting medicines. You put all pills in a plastic bag and drop them off (they don't want the bottles). You may want to call your local station and see if they are doing this. If not, they may know where you can bring them.

City of Chicago web site (http://egov.cityofchicago.org)has a section on recycling. Old meds are considered hazardous waste

try this link
http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalDeptCa...

Definitely turn them in. We are having terrible problems now with medicines in our drinking water due to them being flushed or put in the garbage. They need to be incinerated. Many cities now have locations where you can turn them in. Call your village or county and check.

I know we just had a prescription drop off through our park district, sponsored by the American Red Cross I think. You could search on their website. Good luck.

I talked to the pharmcist in a Meijer's pharmacy. He said they do not officially have a return program, but he took them back for me to be properly disposed.
You are on the right track to have concerns with these pills. Do not throw them away or flush them please.
THANKS

They are not to be flushed,however what you can do is crush or open the capsules and mix them with cat litter. If you don't want to crush and open, you can put them in a coffee can, and soak them--the next day pour that into cat litter. Then toss.
If you have environmental concerns you can put the cat litter and medicine mix in a coffee container and take it to the hazardous material site which is right where you pay your bill---call, because it's only open certain times on certain days. Rockford has a site on s main st.

I had the same issue and when I called my local Walgreens they told me I should flush them - DON'T! That's the worst thing to do and will only get those chemicals in to our water supply. Finally our local hospital had a collection day and I was able to take them there. The police were there to help, so maybe your local hospital or police dept. can answer your question. Good luck, and thanks for being responsible with your unused meds!

Take them to your local pharmacy. They should be able to dispose of them for you.

McHenry County has an extensive recycling program guide. They suggest that you contact the local police department for guidance. They used to tell us to dump them down the toilet until they realized how many pharmaceuticals are actually in our water system. It's good you are taking this route.

http://www.mcdef.org/recy.pdf

Not sure where you live but the Evanston Civic Center on Ridge takes old rxs.

They are taking them at the Carol Stream police station which is too far for you, but call your village and see if they know a place by you.

M.

call your local village. they usually have a drop off program. or call a local pharmacy they may be able to help!

I dump them down the toilet and throw the empty bottles out....

I would call the health department. Or there are nursing homes that have ways of disposing of them. In our town they do a community collection in the spring at the Porter County Expo center, I just watch for it. But the health department might be able to tell you someplace right away if you don't want to wait.

I am so pleased to see that there are others out there that are concerned about this matter. I can not wait to see the responses. Thank you

Carol Stream Police Department recently installed a drop box which is available 24/7 in the police station.
EDIT: I just learned today 8/6/09 that Carol Stream Police Department no longer has drop box for expired medications. Apparently funding was lost. :(

I dropped them with hot water down the garbage disposal and grind them up.

We were told to crush them up and put them into coffe grounds and clean out the fridge and dump all medications into everything including the capsules. Open them and mix them into coffee grounds too.