Keep Washington’s Waterways Clean: Use a Medicine Take-Back Program

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As a Seattle area resident, it’s a matter of pride that we as a region have some of the purest, freshest water in the country. When we travel, and can’t drink the water that comes from the faucet in some of the places we visit, I’m reminded of how lucky we are to have this resource at our fingertips.

On the other hand, I love to brag to guests who are visiting us that they are about to experience the best of the best as they fill their glasses with our clean, delightfully tasting H20. I knew our drinking water was special early on in my life as a Seattleite but didn’t really learn why until Bergen, our 11-year-old son, was a baby.

In the summer of 2012, we visited the Cedar River Watershed, which supplies 1.5 million people in the Greater Seattle area with clean drinking water. While touring the watershed, and former town of Cedar Falls, I learned that the water is so clean that it doesn’t require filtration. That’s only true for 4 other drinking-water systems in the country. As I watched the sparkling flow cascade down at Cedar River Falls, I wondered how the water could be so blue. The reason: It’s just WATER. 100% H20.

The more I’ve learned about our precious resource, the more I’ve wanted to make sure we, my kids included, do everything we can to protect it. Some easy steps we’ve taken include:

• Trash Pick-up Walks.
• Reducing our waste through recycling and composting.
• Walking more, driving less.
• Disposing of pet waste properly.
• Conserving water through less use (shorter showers, low flow shower heads, maintain plumbing)
• Dispose of hazardous material correctly.

Our final step of correctly disposing of hazardous material applies to many household items. Chemicals, oil, antifreeze, and paint are just some of the household items that need to be taken care of professionally rather than poured down the drain. One item that you may or may not have thought about though is medications.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not okay to flush unused or expired medications down the toilet, or even simply throw them in the trash. Why not?

If medications are thrown in the trash, pets and children actually still have access to them. Because pets and children are naturally curious and tend to “get into things”, there is the potential of an accident happening. Without knowing what pets and children are putting in their mouths, they can be poisoned by medication that wasn’t disposed of properly.

Even if the medication stays out of reach from children and pets in the garbage, these medicines can still have an impact on the environment and wildlife. Once at the landfill, the medication breaks down and can seep into the soil. That contaminated soil can then be collected into our waterways through runoff from the landfill.

Finally, if flushed in the toilet or poured down the drain, unwanted medication pollutes our water! Not just the refreshing water that we drink out of the tap, but the water that provides a home for all of our beloved aquatic animals in our rivers, lakes, sounds, and oceans. In addition, the water that we use to grow crops that nourish and feed us can also be contaminated if these medications are not disposed of properly.

Most medicines are not removed by wastewater treatment plants, so it’s our job to use the safest and most environmentally protective way to dispose of unwanted medications: LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back ™.

LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back ™ has created this tool to help you safely dispose of unused or expired medications. Simply enter your zip code andLifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back ™ will provide a list of safe drug take-back kiosks in Washington State. Your family and communities will thank you for helping to protect our most important resources: People and Water!

Get started today by finding a LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back ™ Kiosk near you, and/or join me on 4/22/23 for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day!

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