The village of Carol Stream has partnered with DuPage County to provide a drop box for residents to safely dispose of their unneeded prescriptions.
Village Manager Joe Breinig said there is a white drop box that looks like a mailbox in the police department lobby for anyone to drop off their pharmaceuticals.
The DuPage County Health Department said there is no charge to drop off medications. The goals are to prevent contamination of land and water and to keep prescriptions out of the hands of children.
“Birth control is now being found in the water, everything is being found in the water,” Breinig said. “There is no reason for any of that to be in the water.”
Expired or unused medication often is thrown away, then goes into a landfill and then to the water supply, Breinig said. The drop box is an alternative.
“DuPage County residents may not be aware that improperly disposing of prescription or over-the-counter drugs, such as dumping them down a drain or flushing them down a toilet contributes to pharmaceuticals being found in water supplies or waterways,” Robert J. Schillerstrom, chairman of the DuPage County Board said in a news release.
Carol Stream has agreed to be a host site for the prescription drop box and has been participating for a couple of months now, Breinig said.
“You see people walking in all the time,” Breinig said. “It amazes me people are always coming in with stuff.”
Containers are not accepted; residents looking to dispose of their medication should dump the contents into a zippered plastic bag. Everything but syringes and nuclear medication is accepted.
