31 Days of Decluttering - Day #10 - Expired Medication

Expired medication is definitely something I'm bad about throwing away.  I get it honest though.  My mom has had the same metal tin of salve since I was little and she still uses it and it still works to pull infection out of a cut/scrape.  Personally, I tend to stick by the 5-year rule (if it's more than 5 years past the expiration date, I'll toss it) versus adhering to the actual expiration date.  (Yes, I've already been lectured about this by my Charge Nurse at work). 

Regardless of my upbringing/own theories, here's the steps to declutter your expired medication according to "From Overwhelmed to Organized":

• Gather all the medications in your home (medicine cabinet, first aid kits, purse, car, bedside table, etc.)
• Check each bottle or package for the expiry date {Note: sometimes it's hard to find or read but it should be on there somewhere}
• Dispose all expired medications properly (see below for details)
• If you're unsure of how old a medication is, it's probably old.  Otherwise you'd remember!  This is someplace you can apply the principle, "When in doubt, toss it out."

The Senior List

Here are some links with important information about disposing medications:

• In the U.S., here is the FDA Safe Disposal of Unused Medicines info.  

In the end (sticking to my 5-year rule), all of these items got thrown away:

That Neosporin expired in 2003.  Whoopsie!!  Off to the trash you go!  (Side Note:  I did already throw away a lot of expired Rx when I cleaned out the "toiletries" on Day 2 of this challenge).  There were a few other things I found in the First Aid kit that I tossed also.  

How is your decluttering going?  Are you letting go of your stockpiles of clutter?

Next Up:  Day #11 - CD's or DVD's