Today I happened to clean out under my bathroom sink, the place where I store all of our medicine. I’d decided that, with school out, it was high time to freshen up everything that was expired–from notebooks my kids no longer need to the medicine with an expiration date from two or three years ago.
You can tell that it’s been quite awhile since I’d done this medicine cleaning-out task, because I found bottle after bottle of “children’s” liquid medicine. With my girls being able to swallow pills now and because they are each as tall as an adult (despite their young ages), we’ve long since moved on from “children’s” medicine to the adult kind.
When I discovered these long-expired bottles of medicine, my initial inclination was to dump the unused medicine in the toilet so I could wash out the bottles and recycle them. Then I remembered reading something about how people are unknowingly polluting waterways by tossing their expired medication in the toilet or washing it down the drain.
I know that trace amounts of various pharmaceutical drugs are showing up in water systems, but I’m not sure if the “no dumping” rule applies to over the counter medicine as well. I mean, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suggested that expired prescription meds should be brought to a hazardous waste collection site for proper disposal or back to a pharmacy. The White House’s Drug Policy also addresses the issue of how to dispose of prescription drugs. But do the same rules hold true for OTC drugs like Motrin or Benadryl? Since I’m not sure, I’m going to keep those expired OTC medicines tightly sealed in their bottle and in the trash. I don’t want to pollute water just to recycle three bottles.
While we’re on the topic of water: a friend sent this link to an MSNBC story about how the don’t-drink-bottled-water message seems to have finally sunk in here in America. This story talks about how, even though bottled water consumption is still on the rise, the increase is the slowest it’s been in years.
Perhaps it’s the environmental message getting to people, who are choosing to use refillable bottles and are turning towards tap water to quench their thirst. (I’m still waiting to find the perfect replacement for my polycarbonate Nalgene bottles.) Then again, it could be the economy (stupid), because, let’s face it–buying bottled water is expensive. (Check out this hilarious Boing Boing posting on the most expensive bottled water in the world.) And in these tough economic times, with prices on the rise, why would you pay for something that you can get out of the tap for free?
READ LEAH ON HOME GOES STRONG
I found a great water bottle after I broke the lid on an old Eddie Bauer “Nalgene” type water bottle. I now love the Camelbak Better Bottle (http://www.camelbak.com/index.cfm) I have the .75 L bottle. It definitely lives up to everything they say about it, it is definitely spill proof and durable. I want to get my children the smaller ones so that they can take them to school. Those will be on my back-to-school shopping list.
I love reading your blogs. Thanks for the tips on living frugal and on going green.
When I was in California visiting my kids I was so thrilled to see public drinking fountains, after living in a country where you cannot drink the tap water for 4 years, the idea of free drinkable water everywhere was hard to get used to again.
We have refillable water bottles that we fill from the large 20 liter jugs at home rather than buying the more expensive liter bottles when we are out. Even the dog has his own refillable bottle for outings.
regards,
Theresa
I work for an “image management” company and we do lots of promo/logo’d items and we stopped selling the polycarb bottles last month (we’re in Canada) … so I immediately ordered a sample of a stainless steel water bottle and I have to say, I really like it! It doesn’t taste funny like I thought it might… and it still stays cold.
Heather
Let’s only hope that Americans are finally starting to realize that bottled water is pointless. It is so ridiculous to drink water that is more expensive than gasoline (still!) and is of no higher quality than most tap water here in the states.
This is my first visit to your blog, and I really enjoyed it…Good work!
Thanks for the good wishes and the suggestions for stainless steel bottles.
Also, I love that your dog has his own refillable bottle, Merida! Mine usually tries to drink from MY bottle. Once he does, of course, it becomes HIS bottle and I go thirsty.
Leah
Hi Leah,
What do you use to green clean your toilet? Do any green products get rid of nasty rings?
Also, we’ve been using baking soda and a sponge to clean our tub, but I found a few more Clorox bath wands (resusable stick + disposible pads with cleaner) that I wanted to use up before my move, so my fiancé cleaned with the Clorox Bath Wand today. He said it was *so* much easier with the handle than with the sponge. Do you know of any green cleaners that use a wand/stick or can you think of a green cleaning solution that could make use of the wand we have? Thanks!
~M:
I have to be honest and let you know that I’m currently using up all of my non-green cleaners that I’d stocked up on before our move and before our lean, green living kicked in. Well, I guess it is the “lean” part that is kicking in here, in that I’m not going to get rid of something that I can use for free, much like you’re doing with your Clorox Wands. So right now I’m using Formula 409 in the toilets, though it’s not great on the rings. I find that baking soda or borax does a better job as abrasives.
Seventh Generation and Clorox Green Works both have a thicker, liquid formula that’s designed to clean the toilets, and I’ve tried the both–and would buy them again. My problem is that we have hard water and no water softener, so I’m bound to get rings and spots no matter how hard I scrub. Do you have hard water, too?
As far as the wand cleaner, I can see how that would be so much easier. There’s probably less stress on the back.
Perhaps you could invent a green tub cleaner that comes with a wand apparatus like this? Or maybe you should just invest in a new toilet brush (the reusable kind) and use it to scrub your tub with baking soda. If you do that, let me know how it works.
I hate to admit it, but I’m probably going to keep using disposable toilet cleaning pads on a wand (I like Scotch Brite disposable scrubbers much more than Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush Toilet Brush System, although the later are flushable while the former are not). The concept of a reusable brush just completely disgusts me and there is no way that I am putting my hand in my toilet. Of course, if a green manufacturer comes up with a product on a handle, I would totally try that!
However, I did find some green solutions regarding bath tub cleaning with a handle/wand after a ton of searching. I can’t believe this is so difficult to find!
Here are the two solutions I found that are most like what I am looking far (and coincidentally, the cheapest too):
- Scotch-Brite Shower & Bath Scrubber from drugstore.com. However, the refill sponge tops are not to be found and the product got mixed reviews. It is however cheaper than the second alternative.
- Flex-Neck TNT Tub & Tile Scrubber from The Container Store. This looks like it has serious, long-lasting potential – a very long handle (you could probably stand up), replaceable pads are available, and I have found Container Store products to be very good. However, this product is much less “lean” at almost $15.
It looks like both should work with baking soda, thereby bringing down the overall tub-cleaning cost down to a more reasonable price.