Things you should not do with expired or unused medication: 
- Give to someone else to use or leave where someone else can access it without your knowledge (major source for overdoses and abuse by kids/teens)
- Put into the trash (poisons ground, groundwater and possibly wildlife that ingest it)
- Flush in toilet/down sink (water system not equipped to filter dissolved medication)
So what to do? It is not a matter of taking medication to a safe disposal space like your cans or your newspapers, but twice a year ZeroWaste Pittsburgh teams up with the DEA and local law enforcement to offer us a safe way to dispose of medication. You can go to your closest police station with your medication – prescription and over the counter (and pet meds, too!) – and the DEA will ensure they are disposed of properly.
The date for spring collection is Saturday, April 27th (10 am till 2 pm.) For more information or to get involved, contact Michael Stepaniak at the PA Resources Council at (412) 488-7452 or michaels@ccicenter.org A flyer for the event can be printed at this site. And this is the tentative list of all locations for Pittsburgh.
Locations include (but not limited to:)
- Highmark Direct Stores (North Fayette, North Hills, Monroeville, South Hills, Erie)
- Green Tree Borough Building
- The Mall at Robinson
- The Munhall Borough Building
- Mt. Lebanon
It takes less than 2 minutes. You can remove the labels from your bottles if you prefer. I have some pet medications and some OTC supplements that I’ve been waiting to dispose of via this event. I also think I have a few unused antibiotics (I know, I know.) Fortunately, my police zone (Zone 1 on the Northside) is participating so I have no excuse not to participate.
Neither do you.
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