Hello, teens of Teens Now Talk. My name is Jordyn Schara, I am 14 years old and I live in Wisconsin. I write from far across the border with a topic that I feel is really close to home to teens all over the world, and maybe by sharing my project with you might help keep someone you know safe.

What would you do if you discovered that your drinking water contained antibiotics, heart medications, psychiatric drugs and hormones from birth control pills?

The problem mentioned above is very real and has been happening in lakes, rivers and waterways across the world. That is why I started Wisconsin P2D2, which stands for Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal. I discovered that most people are unsure of how to dispose of their unwanted and expired medications. They usually resort to flushing them down the toilet or the sink or just leaving them in their medicine cabinets. Each of these methods has devastating consequences.

When medications are flushed down the toilet or poured down the sink, they contaminate our groundwater, causing problems for humans and aquatic animals. If drugs are thrown out in the trash, they are accessible to children and pets and the medications can still get into our groundwater.

I encourage you to start raising awareness about proper drug disposal in your community. Spread the word about the danger of prescription and OTC abuse and the proper disposal and security of these medications. Keep our bodies, water and earth safe!

Don’t throw your unused medicine in the trash

• Contact your city or local government’s household trash and recycling service to see if there is a medicine take-back program in your community.
• Learn more about any special rules regarding which medicines can be taken back.
• Talk to your pharmacist to see if he or she knows of any other medicine disposal programs in your area.
• Before throwing out a medicine container, such as a pill bottle, remember to scratch out all information on the prescription label to make it unreadable.