For many Norwalkers, summertime means hosting and entertaining family and friends for cookouts, reunions, and other get togethers. As part of your summer party preparations, the Norwalk Health Department asks you to safely dispose of unused medications before your visitors arrive, and we are proud to help by offering free pill disposal bags while supplies last. These bags enable anyone to throw away medications safely and responsibly in their own home garbage, preventing misuse and protecting the environment.

Please visit the front desk at the Norwalk Health Department (137 East Avenue) during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm) to pick one up. This offer is limited to one bag per household. No personal information is required in exchange for the bags.

Proper disposal of prescription medication is an important way to prevent drug abuse and addiction. Unused or unwanted medications can be misused, stolen, or abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens. Addiction to opioids, a class of drugs that includes some prescription pain relievers, has become an epidemic across the country, and the rates of accidental poisonings and overdoses related to these drugs are high. Many people who abuse prescription drugs like opioids report getting them from friends and family including from the home medicine cabinet.

Helping residents keep their loved ones safe by disposing of unwanted, unused, and expired prescription medications is just one of many ways the Norwalk Health Department is working in partnership with other local groups to help prevent opioid addiction and overdose. For more information about this initiative, contact Megan DiMeglio, Project Coordinator, at (203) 854-7984 or mdimeglio@norwalkct.org.

Please note that these disposal bags are meant for use at home. Do not bring pills, needles, or other medical waste to the Health Department, as they will not be accepted. If you prefer to dispose of your medicines at a drug drop off box, visit the Norwalk Police Department (1 Monroe Street).