How to Dispose of Expired Medicine with Coffee Grounds

Photo Credit:luvemak

I am happy to be part of the Know Your OTC blogger platform this month because I have to admit that today we’re going to be talking about something that I have been doing wrong for years, just because I didn’t know any better. How in the world are we supposed to get rid of medicine after it expires? 

I thought I knew what NOT to do, but I wasn’t really sure what the right way to get rid of it was. Usually, that led to keeping a bunch of expired medicines around our house for years just because we weren’t sure what else to do with them, then finally giving up one day and disposing of them incorrectly.  

Well, now someone has finally taught me the right way to get rid of expired medicine and I can show you too. 

I was surprised by how simple it is!

I had only been missing one step of the process, and I already had the special ingredient in my pantry. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just wants us to mix our medicines with an unpalatable substance such as coffee grounds or kitty litter, then seal the mixture in a container like a plastic bag, and throw them in the trash. 

That does not sound hard. We can all totally do that!

Apparently 62% of adults have never sought information about how we are actually supposed to be disposing of our over-the-counter medication. Although, 50% of adults say they do throw their medicine away in the trash (I was in that 50 percent), only 8% know to mix it with an unpalatable substance like the coffee grounds or kitty litter first. Guilty. 

I will be changing my ways, and I hope that if you were with me in that 50% you will start mixing your expired medicine with coffee grounds as well. 

You can find even more information on safe disposal on the Know Your OTCs website. 

This is why they say knowledge is power. Now the next time we find ourselves face-to-face with a medicine cabinet full of pills that have been past their prime since 1998, we will know exactly what to do. 

This is a sponsored post brought to you by Know Your OTCs. All opinions are my own. 

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