Shelby County finally has a collection bin for unused or unwanted prescription drugs. It’s located at 11670 Memphis-Arlington Road in the Arlington Town Center. (We’ve included a map below.)

The bin is a project of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. It is the 40th bin of its kind in the state of Tennessee, but surprisingly the first in Shelby County.

Hopefully there will be more of these bins to come, since it’s so hard for many residents to get all the way out to Arlington.

These bins are extremely useful:

It’s important to dispose of prescription medication correctly. Otherwise, the ingredients can end up in the sewage, soil, and water supply and potentially cause injury.

The ingredients in some drugs can be deadly if taken by the wrong person. They can also lead to birth injuries and other problems in children and pregnant women, who are especially susceptible to illness if they unknowingly consume drugs through the water supply.

So if you have prescription drugs you aren’t taking, consider throwing them away safely by taking them to the new bin if possible.

And if the bin is too far away, here are some tips from the FDA on how safely to dispose of medications.