Do "green" pharmacies exist?

September 13, 2014 7:33 PM

I frequent the pharmacy, and every time I pick up my prescription they print off a ton of paper detailing the possible effects of the medication. I have told them I do not want this before, but that just resulted in the pharmacist throwing it in recycling (I hope that's what it was). How can I make this a greener experience?

I am on a lot of medications, and some of them I have been on for years. I don't need those drug sheets. For me, this is a waste of paper. Is there a way to get them to not print that off, or is it the law that they have to? Could they give me electronic copies only?

Also would a pharmacist be receptive to me bringing in old pill bottles and asking for them to put my refills in them? I recently learned my municipal curbside recycling doesn't actually take these, and will throw them out if they receive them.

I only know about the customer side of pharmacies, so maybe there are practices of pharmacists that can be green too. Does anyone know of any chains (or even mom and pop stores, especially if you are in the Puget Sound) that could be labeled eco-friendly?

I know I could ask my pharmacist these questions, but honestly I am a bit embarrassed of all the (psychotropic) medications I am on and usually want to make the least amount of fuss as possible at the pharmacy to hopefully make me not look so much like a crazy person. I know I'm not crazy and this is silly, and these are legitimate concerns if you are eco-conscious, but I am self-conscious about it.

posted by tweedle to Shopping (13 answers total)

I think unfortunately pharmacies will not reuse old bottles, but you may be able to recycle them at your local Whole Foods (usually they're #5 plastic, which can be turned into toothbrushes, etc. by Preserve).

There are actually "green" pharmacies where I live (Berkeley/Oakland), but I don't have any prescriptions right now and I'm not sure of their policy on printing out instructions. It looks like there are branches of one chain up in Seattle (Pharmaca), so you could try asking them. I would say, though, that you shouldn't worry *too* much about just recycling the paper. In the grand scheme of environmental issues, you can have an exponential amount more impact just by doing something like eating less meat or dairy, or flying less, than focusing on paper.
posted by three_red_balloons at 7:46 PM on September 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Have you tried Target? I know they have an innovative bottle/label design, not sure if that extends to the paperwork.
posted by acidic at 8:20 PM on September 13, 2014

Pharmacies can't reuse bottles because it's possible that with use the child safety mechanism on the bottle becomes weak. Sounds silly a bit, but it's actually in a law. Some medications require a medication guide with each dispensing; many pharmacies include the info regardless because it prints out on the same sheet of paper that the stick-on label prints out--they peel off the label, fold the rest, and staple it to the bag. That stuff prints out automatically when you get a fill/refill, at least in my experience. So they either give it to you or they toss it.

You're not crazy, your pharmacist won't think you're crazy for asking if they can cut down the amount of printouts you get. But I'm guessing it will be like you mentioned, they'll just throw out (recycle) what you don't want.

Hopefully someone can give you a more specific recommendation for a pharmacy. Are you able to get 90 day supplies of any of your meds? That would cut down a little bit on your yearly med guide printouts.
posted by eldiem at 8:41 PM on September 13, 2014 [4 favorites]

Target pill bottles are made with #1 plastic, the most recyclable kind.
posted by the jam at 8:44 PM on September 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

Look for an independent pharmacy (a mom and pop). Drop your empty bottles off when it is time for a refill. Most will stick a new label on the bottle and use the bottle again, so long as it is clean. The paper issue may be more difficult. Retail pharmacy is a high stress, fast moving job. It is very difficult to give one person special treatment. It may be possible to uncheck something in their system just for you so that nothing gets printed but will take time that they may not have. Try and find a non-busy time to pop in and ask. Just know that you will not be making any difference to the environment at all. Your 3 sheets of paper every few weeks are nothing compared to everything else wasted.
posted by myselfasme at 9:45 PM on September 13, 2014

I think to some extent, all the print-outs they give you is to protect themselves from liability and other legal reasons. I think if they could cut costs by not printing all that junk out, they would've by now.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:36 PM on September 13, 2014 [7 favorites]

I work at an animal shelter. We accept donations of empty pill bottles to use for veterinary meds that need to be sent home with the adopted pet.
posted by alex1965 at 5:20 AM on September 14, 2014 [8 favorites]

The Target pharmacy I use gives me a patient information sheet for each medication with every prescription, no matter how many times I've filled and refilled. The counter person told me they have to do this.
posted by wryly at 10:17 AM on September 14, 2014

Is this true across all pharmacy chains in the US? It seems like CVS is the worst at printing out drug info sheets & insane coupons on the receipts.

I don't remember getting as much paper from the Target pharmacy, but it's been a few years.
posted by barnone at 11:24 AM on September 14, 2014

I use a mom&pop, non-chain pharmacy, and they too give the printouts ("side effects, contraindications, etc.") I really think there's no legal way around it. I rip them off and put in my recycle bin at home, along with our #5 pill bottles.
posted by BostonTerrier at 12:08 PM on September 14, 2014

Will they let you get a longer prescription? I mean, like 3 months in the same bottle, instead of 1 month? I get my dog's pills (2x per day every day) in 6-month increments. You gotta be ready for the financial investment, but it's nice to not go fill prescriptions all the time too.
posted by hydra77 at 2:31 PM on September 14, 2014

I'm a tech at a local pharmacy. We recently had a system update, now those useless papers print out every single time that a script is filled. There's no way for us to prevent it, they would just end up in our trash to be shredded. I was told that this was for legal reasons.

We might reuse bottles if you asked, but that would really depend on how disgusting it was/how hard the label was to remove. Getting a 90 day supply would probably serve you the best, but depending on what drugs/your RX plan might not be feasible. If the childproof cap would clasp, you would just have to say that you are alright with that. Some people can't open them because of arthritis or whatever, we just have to confirm that that's what you wish.

Also, don't be afraid of us, we don't bite! No matter how odd you are, you still aren't going to rate as one of the 'crazies'. Everyone and their dog is taking various drugs for their mental health these days, we don't think anything of it. Unless you buy all the astroglide in stock, that is...
posted by Trifling at 7:24 PM on September 14, 2014

The paper is not an environmental tragedy, so I'd recycle and move on. Try to sync your prescriptions or maybe combine with other shopping trips. One saved car trip saves a lot of pollution. Sometimes my pharmacy uses big pill bottles for small pills. Asking for small bottles uses a lot less plastic. Save up a whole bunch of pill bottles, remove the labels (easy with my pharmacy's labels) and offer them on freecycle.com. Somebody may love having them for beads, kids play/ craft, whatever.
posted by theora55 at 8:56 PM on September 14, 2014