Community Corner
Medication Disposal Program Returns to Southington This Weekend
The annual collection has seen drop-offs increase significantly in recent years, bringing a prescription for clean water and drug-free streets to Southington.
The spring cleaning process is under way for many families and as local resident clean out their homes, officials are encouraging them to also carefully and safely dispose of unused medications.
The Southington Water Department will host the fifth annual medication disposal drive on April 27. The event is open to residents from Southington, Bristol, Burlington and Wolcott for medication drop-off at the Southington Water Department between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
“The event has been growing larger each year,” said Southington Water Department Superintendent Fred Rogers prior to last year’s event. “We got a lot of great feedback from the residents coming through the event and were able to collect thousands of medications each year.”
Southington Town Council Chairman John Dobbins, a pharmacist by trade, said it’s easy to overlook medications that aren’t used anymore. He said in helping his parents with spring cleaning efforts last year, they found prescriptions dating back as far as 1989. The collection itself has seen prescriptions dating back to the 1950s.
Although they have made efforts in the past to clean out their home, it’s easy for prescriptions to be placed aside and forgotten about.
This free event is an opportunity for everyone to clean out their medicine cabinets and bring all expired and unwanted medication (prescription, vitamins, over-the-counter and veterinary) for proper disposal. All medicine will be disposed of properly by incineration and no medicine will be reused or resold.
Thermometers, needles or medical waste of any type will not be accepted.
The following was provided by the Southington Police Department on their Facebook page:
Location: Southington Water Department
605 West Queen St., Southington
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013
Time: 10:00 AM– 2:00 PM
Bring:
- Expired or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medicines, including vitamins and veterinary medications
- Personal, family member or pet medications
- Medications that are no longer used
- Medications from deceased family member
- Unknown tablets or capsules
Do NOT Bring:
- Thermometers
- Needles
- Medical Waste of any type
“The program is a regional effort to help protect our drinking water supplies and make sure they are safe for future generations,” said Bristol Superintendent Robert Longo.
All medicines returned should be in their original bottle with the name and address of the patient crossed off with a permanent maker. If you do not have a marker one will be provided at the event. Be sure to leave the name of the medication visible for the pharmacist’s review.
Participants will be asked a few general questions, such as town of residence, why the medication is no longer wanted and how did you hear about this event. No personal information will be requested.
This year’s event is sponsored by the Southington Water Department, Bristol Water Department, Southington Public Schools, Bristol Public School, the Southington-Cheshire YMCA, STEPS and Parents-4-A-Change.
For more information, please contact the Southington Water Department at (860) 628-5593 or the Bristol Water Department at (860) 582-7431.
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