Nassau County Pilot Program: Don't Flush Away Unwanted Prescription Drugs
CARLE PLACE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A new program has launched in Nassau County aimed at keeping prescription medications out of the water supply.
Stop & Shop Supermarkets, United Water and Citizens Campaign for the Environment joined forces urging people not to flush their old prescriptions down the toilet to get rid of them.
"When we unfortunately flush these drugs, it ends up in our drinking water or our marine environment, which means that we're either drinking very low doses but yet they're still there or it's in the marine environment altering the development of fish and shellfish," Adrienne Esposito with Citizens Campaign for the Environment told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall.
Nassau County Pilot Program: Don't Flush Away Unwanted Prescription Drugs
"What's happened over the years is that these drugs have found their way into waterways, whether they're streams, rivers, even the bays out here in Nassau County because the wastewater plants weren't made to take them out. It's that simple," Richard Henning with United Water added.
Under the pilot program, seven Stop & Shop locations across Nassau County will have pre-addressed, pre-paid envelopes so people can fill them with unwanted or expired medications and drop them in a mailbox.
The drugs will be sent to a place where they can be disposed of safely.
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