But that’s no reason why we should not indulge in the proverbial spring clean. Indeed we owe it to ourselves, our homes and offices to reduce the clutter – to search and destroy; or at least remove or recycle.

Remarkably, the recycling industry now processes more than 11 million tonnes of material each year; and to undertake this process the industry employs about 5,000 Australians.

So far that’s all the good news; there is, however, a less attractive side to the story. Compared with a selection of a dozen so-called OECD countries, Australia has been rated as the second most wasteful country surveyed. We produce about 700kg of waste every year for every man, woman and child – more than every other country but one – the United States of America.

Of course, there are several things that should never end up in the rubbish dump; and amongst these are medicines. Nor should medicines be recycled. Keeping old medicines can be a health risk, and disposing of unwanted medicines inappropriately can also pose a risk to the environment.

We Australians are certainly a nation of hoarders. That may be great for some things – items of furniture perhaps, that might gain in antique status – bottles of wine that mature with age – and there are those unique collectible items such as stamps and coins that appreciate in value as time goes by.

There’s no financial benefit, however, in collecting medicines. In fact, there are some significant problems associated with having old or unwanted medicines lying around the house.

It seems obvious that if your medicine cabinet is “choc-o-block” with medicines there’s a chance of confusion and misadventure – even more so if those medicines are not stored correctly. They must be out of sight, out of mind and out of reach of kids and grandkids.

And while children may be at special risk by swallowing a little (or a lot) of this and that – just out of curiosity, it’s also easy enough for us adults to get confused with a cupboard full of alternatives.

So what do we do to ensure our homes are safe from medication misadventure? Well, what we don’t do is flush our unwanted medicines down the toilet or the kitchen sink; nor do we dispose of them in the household garbage.

We shouldn’t assume that sewage treatment plants can effectively treat all substances contained in medicines and we don’t want fish and other aquatic life suffering the side effects of medicines we no longer want.

The only safe method of disposal is to return your unwanted medicines to your local pharmacy. Medicine collection bins funded by the Commonwealth Government have been placed in every pharmacy in Australia. Once full, they are removed and the contents safely destroyed. It’s all part of the RUM (Return Unwanted Medicines) campaign.

Each month the RUM program helps to prevent about 30 tonnes of medicines from potentially harming our environment or possibly harming us as well.

Why not give your medicine chest a bit of a spring clean? For more information about RUM or simply to get some advice on how to sort your medicines and manage them better, call into your local Self Care Pharmacy. Phone the Pharmaceutical Society on 1 300 369 772 for the nearest location.

©2006 Pharmaceutical Society of Australia