1 envelope and instructions for TakeAway Environmental Return System, made by Sharps Compliance Inc., Texas, 2011-2018

Filled with expired or unused medication, the prepaid TakeAway envelope is sent through the United States Postal system to Sharps Compliance, Inc in Texas. Here the medications are disposed of safely and legally. The system aims to remove addictive substances from circulation, avoid accidental usage and to prevent their disposal into landfill or into the water supply. This contamination not only has the potential to damage our own health, but it can also impact the health of our aquatic systems, the animals who live within them, and our environment more generally.

This object was collected by a former Science Museum member of staff while attending the annual convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives in 2017, where the growing problem of opioid misuse was widely discussed.