Helping the environment and preventing addiction is what National Take Back Day is all about.

Too often prescription drugs can find their way into the wrong hands but Saturday on National Take Back Day Americans everywhere including in Bakersfield had an opportunity to clean out their medicine cabinets and anonymously turn in unused prescription drugs.

Expired or unused prescription medications can be a public safety issue when they occasionally lead to  accidental poisoning, misuse and or overdose. Proper disposal of these drugs can eliminate those problems and keep pharmaceuticals from getting into the water supply.

Last year in both April and October over 900,000 pounds of unused prescriptions were collected in each month and safely disposed, according to the national drug take back day website.

The disposal collection lasted from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday at the Kaiser Permanente Stockdale medical office location. Bakersfield Police Department and the Tehachapi Police department also held a drop off location with no questions asked.

Volunteers at the Kaiser Permanente location also collected eyeglasses, hearing aids, clothing, furniture and electronics for recycle.