If you're like most people, once you're over an illness, the bottle of pills goes in the medicine cabinet and collects dust. Or maybe you use the pills a couple years down the line. That's not such a good idea.
The Council on Family Health says it's important that you clean out your medicine chest at least once a year. The group's recommendations: Throw out medicine when your doctor says you no longer need it; check expiration dates on all medicines and throw away those that have expired; toss out medicine if a label is unreadable, and store all medicines in a cool, dry place.
If you do dispose of medicines, the council says to empty the contents in the toilet or the sink, then throw away the containers.
