Q Dear Auntie Pearl, my uncle passed away and he was very sick and used a lot of medicine.
I am now sorting through his things and just found lots of old medicine.
What does one do with this?
Can I throw it in the bin or in the toilet?
A Condolences with the passing of your uncle, hartjie.
Safely disposing of expired and unused medicines is very important.
You mos don’t want the medicines and other medical waste to end up with laaities or dogs, or drug addicts.
Now mense might tune you to just throw it in the bin or flush it down the loo nuh, but Auntie’s here to tell you: don’t do it!
And here’s why:
If you just throw it in the bin, it can end up in the wrong hands, causing illness or even death.
Daai’s mos not something you want to be responsible for.
Throwing it away in the toilet is also not a good idea as the meds can make their way to water treatment facilities or into the ground and cause all sorts of other problems with our drinking water and cause health issues.
Auntie skeem the best idea would be to talk to your pharmacist or doctor and ask them how to dispose of the old pille and other dinge.
Auntie also found out that September is Pharmacy Month and many pharmacies advertise that they are taking in old medication to dispose of in the correct and safest manner.
Keep an eye out for that or just go to your nearest pharmacy, hartjie, and ask the kind mense who work there if they can help you.