Walgreen's Launches Safe Prescription Drugs Disposal Program

Walgreens has launched the first ongoing, nationwide Safe Medication Disposal Program, a safe and environmentally responsible way to dispose of unused or expired medications. For $2.99, customers can purchase a specially designed envelope available at any Walgreens pharmacy counter that allows them to place, seal and mail prescription or over-the-counter medications they no longer use for safe, eco-friendly disposal. Once securely sealed, the envelope can be dropped into any U.S. Postal Service mailbox where it will be sent to an approved medication incinerator. Click here for the complete story.

A recent Associated Press investigation discovered trace amounts of a variety of pharmaceutical drugs in the drinking water supply of 24 major metropolitan areas across the country. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are known to interfere with the normal growth and reproduction of fish and other aquatic life. Safely disposing of pills is a step in the right direction but reducing the amount of medication taken the US will greatly improve water quality. Discharges from waste water treatment plants and untreated sewage run-off into lakes, rivers and streams are by far the biggest source of pharmaceutical pollution. Presently, the EPA does not regulate pharmaceuticals as a pollutant so we must be extra vigilant personally to minimize the pills we take, especially hormone-related substances, which seem to have the most detrimental effect on wildlife.