Have you ever cleaned your medicine cabinet just to find everything has expired? You might be thinking to yourself “what am I going to do with all these medications?” Well we have a solution for you. TAKEAWAY, this is an Environmental Return System Envelope for your unused prescribed and over-the-counter medications. We purchased this product at Walgreens for $3.99 which includes pre-paid return postage; we placed our sticker on the actual envelope. This location was perfect because many people use Walgreens as their neighboring pharmacy and most of them have no clue on how to dispose of their medication properly. Now, they can obtain their disposal envelope while they go pick up medications and have no worries. We believe this is a major public health issue because people are prone to disposing old medications inadequately, and they don’t know if the drugs are going to end up in the wrong hands or even on the wrong paws. It is extremely important to STOP Flushing expired medications, for the reason that by doing so, it enters our local sewer system damaging our water supply. A contaminated water supply affects our ecosystem as well as our health, and it can also harm all the animals and plants and their habitation. In the past it was customary to flush old medications, given that there wouldn’t be ramifications from an insanitary water supply. However, today a contaminated water supply can cause adverse outcomes on many individual’s health and the environment we all live in.
This Blog is brought to you by : Yaisiel Montanez, Kristina Aldana, Brittany Judd, Sergimar Henriquez, Jovonna Harris
I have been told that flushing your medications down the toilet was harmful to the environment, so I would just throw mine away in the garbage not even realizing that it had the exact same affect, the chemicals just reach the water in a different way! Until your post I had not heard of the TAKEAWAY envelope before and I think it is a great option for disposing of medications and preventing contamination of the water supply. I will definitely purchase one of these envelopes in the future and tell others about the TAKEAWAY envelope so that more people can become aware of what they can do to help promote public health. It is amazing that such a small thing like this can have a much larger effect if we all participated in these sorts of programs.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good idea; I really liked it! I always face the problem of dealing with expired Ibuprofen or Tylenol. Whenever I come across these expired pills, I just throw them out into the garbage can without even thinking about it. Well, I won't be doing so anymore! I felt guilty reading your blog because I didn't realize the harm I was causing. Thanks to your educational blog,I will never discard any expired meds into the toilet OR the garbage can! I, too, will tell everyone about the TAKEAWAY envelope and purchase one myself!
ReplyDeleteI go to either Walgreens or CVS at least three times per week for makeup, snacks etc. Of all the times I have been there I have never seen or heard of the TakeAway envelope, but, now that I know it exists I will definitely be purchasing a few. My parents have a closet full of old and new meds that needs to be cleaned out; so I guess I know what my first spring cleaning project is going to be. Thank you for the great information!
ReplyDeleteI never actually thought of the damage I was doing by throwing away all old prescriptions. I usually throw mine in the trash and I never thought about how animals and people could find it and harm themselves. I as well have never heard of the TakeAway envelope and I'm happy to know I can improve on Public Health in an easy way. Considering Walgreens is basically my home since getting sick is a usual hobby for me. Glad to know the right way to dispose of me "unwanted" and expired prescriptions.
ReplyDeleteThe title of your blog truly is attention grabbing. I did not know that flushing medications could harm the environment and I certainly was not aware that there was a proper way to dispose medications. Based on the parent blog, it became apparent that medications that are not disposed properly can indeed in the long run be disastrous to the environment concerning our water, wild life and even people. Improper disposal of medications does have consequences; this is a great example of public health. There are so many things that public health provides that people aren't aware of and this is definitely one of then.
ReplyDeleteWow, I definitely would have never thought to use something like this for my meds. Excellent use of the sticker and phrase" This is Public Health." I know that when I was little, we used to flush old medicine down the toilet, most likely not even thinking about the harmful effects it would cause in the water system. The fact that public health is truly all around us, even in our disposal of drugs, is amazing and encouraging! By disposing our old medicine the proper way, it not only helps with the preservation of the environment, but it also reduces the risk that families and friends share medicine, especially expired medicine that can have harmful effects. Thank you so much for the hint and I will definitely be using TAKEAWAY!
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of crazy that you guys chose this as your topic; just the other day I was looking in my medicine cabinet wondering how to get rid of old prescriptions and medicines that are expired. I think this is a really cool idea, especially since it only costs $3.99. Not only do those four dollars help clean out space in your home, they ensure that the medications don't end up in our water or in the wrong hands. This program IS public health!
ReplyDeleteI knew that flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them away was bad for the environment, but did not know any other way of disposing them properly. This is the first time I have heard of the TAKEAWAY envelope and think it is an amazing program! People need to be aware of how their actions can impact their environment and how they can change. I believe this program is doing just that. I will definitely be purchasing one of these envelopes in the near future. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThere have been many medications that I've had that I've thrown out in the garbage or down the toilet. it never crossed my mind that it would be bad for the environment or even much so our water supply. Now that i know About TakeAway I can properly dispose of my old medications. As a matter of fact I have some old pills in my medicine cabinet right now. Thank you Walgreens and blogger for making this information available.
ReplyDeleteI think its really good that there is a disposable envelope that you can put all your old medications in to throw away. I have plenty of old medications in my medicine cabinet and never really thought about the effects that flushing medicine down the toilet or throwing them in the garbage would have on the environment. As long as i could remember that was always the way my family got rid of them or we simply just left them in the cabinet to collect dust over the years. The fact that this envelope can help you make extra space in your cabinet and more importantly potentially save lives is GREAT! It's definently something ill recommend to others and as well as my family.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time that I have even heard of TAKEAWAY. I think that this is fantastic way to help with problem of pollution via medications. Being a bio major with a focus on animal and ecological science, I understand how detrimental this pollution can be to the local aquatic life and how these medications can become concentrated in these animals, very similar to the mercury poisoning event in Minamata, Japan. This is not only a great way to help protect the environment, but also a great way to protect ourselves and others. Great job finding this and bringing it to our attention. I'll have to get one with spring cleaning being right around the corner.
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting that your group chose this item. My parents have had a wide range of health problems in the last year, and recently I attempted to remove their wide variety of old medications. I knew not to flush them, and didn't think throwing them away was a viable alternative either. This seems to be a good solution to what I've heard is a problem within water filtration systems. According to several websites, controlled substances cannot be disposed of utilizing this system, but for other medications is a perfect solution. I wasn't able to find out exactly how the company disposes of the medications, and so I am very curious as to how they are disposed of safely. Still, this is a great idea and a wonderful example of public health.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, I actually do not know what I do with all of my old medications/prescription drugs. After reading this blog post, this Environmental Return System Envelope seems like such a great, environmentally friendly idea. I am sure many people will find this useful and, as a result, the more people utilizing this method will ultimately end in a better-kept and safer environment.
ReplyDelete