October 29, 2011 is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The DEA is promoting this day for people to turn in your unused or expired medication for safe disposal. They have a local collection site locator on their website. It is important to recycle drugs and recycle medicine properly.

We all have heard of traces of drugs in the water system. It is time to make sure no one contributes to this any more by flushing expired or unused medicine down the drain. Wastewater treatment facilities aren’t designed to remove pharmaceuticals but someday may need to be.

Many local police departments take medicine waste as do many pharmacies.

FDA has some guidelines, some of which seem outdated.

NoDrugsDownTheDrain.org has a locator to help you find places to properly dispose of medicine.

Chemicals from medicines have been even measured in water from sewage treatment plants.  Our waste has traces of these chemicals and chemicals from cosmetics wash off from our skin as we shower.  This will be hopefully someday addressed.

China Trash Can Chinglish – Lost in translation

Here is an interesting trash can we encountered deep in the heart of China. Glad to see they are pushing recycling. Not sure why they choose Organism for Trash…