Most of us are aware that Americans waste a lot of food, which has spurred nonprofits like the Food Recovery Network to avert some of that loss and give it to hungry people. But you may not know that Americans also toss out an astonishing amount of perfectly good prescription drugs as well. These drugs end up in landfills, flushed down the toilet or burnt in incinerators where they can harm people or the environment, keeping them from people who could use them.
Fifty percent of the Americans that the Commonwealth Fund surveyed said that they had failed to fill a prescription ordered by their doctors because of the price of the drug, and according to the CDC, 25 percent of Americans struggle with paying their medical bills.
Which is why several crusaders are working to get unused prescription drugs into the hands of people who need them. George Wang, whose Stanford, California-based nonprofit startup Sirum recovers these drugs, calculates that $700 million worth of prescriptions could be saved each year. He talked with Marketplace about “the absurdity of the waste and how gross it is, the fact that it’s raining down on families where these drugs are being burnt. It’s insane, right?”
One of the big culprits is nursing homes. Residents use a lot of prescriptions, but regulations require these facilities to toss prescriptions instead of sharing them between patients. Larry McCarty, a medical waste hauler who works for nursing homes in California describes, “brand new packages that have never been open and still have the saran over the top of them. Whole packages, just sitting in there.”
Sirum has developed software to make it simple for nursing homes to donate leftover drugs, shipping them to pharmacies that will give them to low-income people or those who don’t have insurance.
In Oklahoma, Linda Johnston, the Tulsa County Director of Social Service, heads up a program that involves retired doctors in collecting unused drugs and delivering them to the needy, saving $16 million worth of drugs so far, and countless lives. Johnston talked with Marketplace about one young man who’d received anti-depression medication from the program. “He wanted me to know he was not going to commit suicide, because he had his medication, he could take it.”
MORE: How Much Food Could Be Rescued if College Dining Halls Saved Their Leftovers?
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Tag: waste
5 Truly Terrifying Things About Halloween
Want to hear something really scary? According to the National Retail Federation, the average American plans to spend about $77 this Halloween — that’s an increase from $75.03 last year. In fact, the total spending on Halloween items this year will reach $7.4 billion. This insane amount of money is really great for the costume and decorations industry, but the sheer amount of waste it generates is terrible for the environment.
We know many of you are probably really looking forward to the haunted houses, parties and indulging your sweet tooth during this holiday favorite. However, before you bob for your first apple, there are a few things you might want to know first.
1. Costumes
Thanks to the Flammable Fabrics Act, most packaged Halloween costumes are made with (cheap, mass produced) flame-resistant fabrics that won’t catch fire or can be extinguished quickly. Of course, this is a good idea for children (or adults) who run around near candlelit Jack-o-lanterns in billowing capes or flowing garments. However, as Healthy Child Editorial Director Alexandra Zissu writes in a blog post, “growing evidence links flame retardants with adverse health effects, including hormone disruption, reproductive issues and neurological development concerns. Some of these chemicals have been banned or limited in the U.S. and other countries due to health concerns.” You might be thinking that because you’re only wearing it for one night, you won’t be negatively affected. However, since most costumes end up in the bottom of closets before they get sent to the landfill, these toxic chemicals end up leaching out into the environment.
The green alternative: Look for “PVC-free” or “phthalate free” costumes (the ones that don’t smell like a shower curtain). You might not win any costume contests, but consider swapping old ones with a pal, rummaging through vintage or thrift stores for items or scrounging your closet. You’d be surprised with how many clever costumes can be put together with simple items found in your home.
2. Makeup and face paint
A 2009 report from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that 10 out of 10 (!) children’s face paints contained low levels of lead — ranging from 0.05 to 0.65 parts per million (no level of lead is good for you). Some paints might also contain nickel, cobalt and chromium, which can cause skin issues such as sensitization and contact dermatitis. The scariest part is that these chemicals were not even listed on the ingredient labels, even though they claimed to be “hypoallergenic” and “FDA compliant,” the report found.
The green alternative: The Sierra Club has a list of eco-friendly cosmetics as well as fake skin and face paint recipes made with natural food coloring and fruit or vegetable-based dyes.
3. Pumpkins
Millions of pounds of these Halloween icons turn up in the dump each year after they are carved up for a single evening. That’s just a huge waste — pumpkins are food and people are starving. A pumpkin also takes a huge amount of resources, energy and fertilizers to grow before it makes its way to your porch. According to ThinkProgress, pumpkin farmers in California (the second largest second-largest pumpkin producer in U.S. behind Illinois) are upping the price of pumpkins by 15 percent due to the devastating drought increasing costs of growing.
The green alternative: Compost it, slice up the flesh for soup or muffins, bake the seeds or blend them into a facial exfoliant instead of throwing it away. Pumpkins can also have a second life as fuel. There are facilities around the country, such as the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, Calif., that turn discarded pumpkins and other food waste into renewable electricity.
4. Decorations
Just like costumes, Halloween decorations are usually made of cheap, non-recyclable plastics that clog up landfills after use. Also, many decorative candles and the tea lights that are placed inside pumpkins contain petroleum-based paraffin that release out harmful chemicals when lit.
The green alternative: DIY decorations, or go outdoors and find pine cones, leaves and twigs (a fun family activity). As for candles, find ones made of soy or beeswax. For parties, use actual cups, plates and silverware instead of the disposable stuff. Even if you can’t be bothered with washing dishes, there’s compostable stuff that’s available. And please recycle those bottles and cans. The simple idea is this: the less you buy, the better.
5. Candy
If you care about rhinos, tigers or orangutans, then you want to shop smart for candy. Many Halloween treats (as well as other foods and products) are made with unsustainable palm oil, which is cheap to ship and produce but is absolutely no good for the planet. Besides emitting tons of greenhouse gases, the burning of forests for palm oil plantations are a leading cause of deforestation, air pollution and destruction of wildlife and natural habitats in southeast Asia.
The green alternative: Before you shop, check out this list from the El Paso Zoo of palm oil-free candy (or you can download their app). Also, if you can, choose treats that don’t come in excessive packaging. Better yet, make your own sweets.
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