Medicine Disposal Project Continues

What started as a six day project has grown into an ongoing program.  According to Nancy Reep, Senior Services Case Manager of the Ford-Iroquois Public Health Department, The Phil the P.I.L.L. (Protect Illinois Land and Lakes) Project was initiated in July to provide drop off sites for residents who wanted to dispose of their expired or unwanted medicines in an environmentally safe manner.  In a matter of six days, over 130 pounds of pharmaceuticals were collected and according to Reep this produced interest in continuing the program.

Three Ford County pharmacies have agreed to continue to collect expired and unwanted pharmaceuticals including the Medicine Shoppe in Gibson City as well as Hudson Drug Store and SavMor Pharmacy in Paxton.  “We just have had a lot of interest,” said Reep.  “Pharmaceuticals have been found in lakes, rivers, and drinking water across the US. and this has environmentalists concerned about the safety of our water supply.  We absolutely do not want people to flush medications down the drain,” she said. 

Ms. Reep said the six day project produced feedback that will be utilized in the ongoing program.  “Through the pilot project, we found that the best way to handle the pharmaceuticals is to have residents bring them to the drop off site in their original bottle without any information blacked out.  The pharmacist will then empty the medication out of the bottle into a container and return the bottle to the owner.  With this system we help protect the identity of the individual and at the same time save the space that the bottles take up.”  Ms. Reep did indicate that controlled substances will not be accepted in the ongoing program.

For more information regarding the Phil the P.I.L.L. program, contact the Ford-Iroquois Public Health Department at 217-379-9281.