It's time to give your medicine cabinet an emetic. Purge it now of all expired medications, beauty products you know you'll never use and any other useless crap clogging up your shelves.
Prescription drugs, especially antibiotics, hormone medications, and antidepressants should never be flushed down the toilet. Modern treatment facilities are not designed to remove those medications. You can minimize their impact on the environment by taking all your unwanted or expired medicines to an appropriate disposal facility. Find out where by calling your local pharmacist; in many of the saner parts of the world, this safe facility will be your pharmacist. You may also be able to find information on the web through a site like Safe Drug Disposal California (which I have quoted above).
Unused and non-rancid cosmetics and other sundries can often be donated to local homeless shelters. Into the Charity bag!
If you think you might need something, but you haven't needed it in the last year, put it in a box or a bag with a label saying "Dispose of this after [a date 6 months from now]".
For bonus points: now that there's less clutter, take a moment to wipe down all the shelves. Mmm, happy bathroom.
Fun things found while decluttering today:
-several old nailpolish bottles, many of them really tacky glitter
-lavender-smelling body spray, which is a scent I cannot stand
-old mascara (eww)
-stick concealer sharpened down to stub form (I guess that was a good color for me)
Posted by: Abby | January 10, 2006 at 06:07 AM
One little hint when checking out meds. Aspirin DOES go bad.
Open a bottle and immediately take a sniff. If there is a strong vinegar odor, get rid of aspirin and replace with a fresh bottle. The shelf life of Aspirin is about 6 months.
Posted by: Debra | January 25, 2006 at 11:31 AM
Every year I make "Dispose of this after" kind of box. And now I have several.
Posted by: Dave | January 25, 2006 at 02:37 PM
Out of date mascara has a distinct odor, too. Sort of sweet/plastic-y. Best not to take any chances with it.
Posted by: pam | January 26, 2006 at 08:52 AM
Actually aspirin can last 4 years after the expiration date or longer. Read this for more information.
http://www.mombu.com/medicine/laboratory/t-do-medications-really-expire-aspirin-renal-hay-fever-headache-tetracycline-2444448.html
Interesting reading.
Posted by: Chris Williamson | May 03, 2009 at 05:48 PM
If there is a strong vinegar odor, get rid of aspirin and replace with a fresh bottle. The shelf life of Aspirin is about 6 months.
Posted by: s. o. | March 25, 2010 at 07:59 AM