Greendale Collects Thousands Of Pills For Proper Disposal

GREENDALE, WI— The Village of Greendale Police Department collects unused prescription medications from Greendale residents throughout the year with the use of a collection box in the Safety Center lobby.

The police began collecting unused prescription medications in August 2009.

Between October 2019 and the recent drug take back event, the police department collected 17 boxes of unwanted medication. In all, the pills totaled nearly 600 pounds.

The focus of drug take back events and boxes is on removing potentially dangerous pharmaceutical substances from medicine cabinets and preventing them from going into the water supply. Unused or expired medication should never be flushed or poured down the drain. Water reclamation facilities are not designed to remove all of them, and trace amounts of pharmaceuticals are showing up in rivers and lakes around the world.