Have you cleaned out your medicine chest lately? I have been doing my fall cleaning and attacking one cupboard at a time and feel like its never going to end. The above bag is from my own cupboard and its larger then it looks. I was amazed by it actually. Although it has no actual pharmaceuticals in it and very few (if any) were actually bought at a "drug store/pharmacy", all drug stores will gladly toss them in their bio-hazard for us, which is wonderful as I'm sure we all know by now the environmental concerns of throwing them in the trash and flushing/ pouring them down the drain etc. with trace drug residues in our water supply/community drinking water and such.
But what do you do with tinctures/liquids and salves ? The truth is, I just don't know. And neither does anyone else seem to.
Even after speaking with two different London Drug Pharmacists, two different Choices Markets locations, and even The Recycling Council of British Columbia (click here for them- an AMAZING resource) this morning I still don't quite know for sure...
One Pharmacist when I asked what they did with liquids told me that he just sends them back to the manufacturer. Somebody else said to throw them in the garbage and to mix it (the substance) in with used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and still another person told me to just flush them. (the latter I am not willing to do). The Recycling Council dude and I had a really great conversation about lots of issues, and they really are a terrific resource. In the end on this topic he said that its really hard to mandate every single product we have/use but we are really close in BC to having to having that happen! Isn't that exciting?
In the meanwhile I'll just hang onto my tinctures until I learn of the best way to dispose of them.
If you have any suggestions feel free to pass them along. As well, I'll repost on this topic should I get the answer. Namaste.