This is not a joke: New York State now has a website called http://www.dontflushyourdrugs.net/.

The name is comical, but the intention is noble. State health and environmental officials simply want New Yorkers to refrain from flushing their unused medications down the drain. It's all part of that newfound awareness we have that the drugs we take are making their way into our lakes and streams.

The website spells out a better way to dispose of the drugs: stick them in old coffee grounds or kitty litter and throw them in the garbage. That's still not an ideal solution. The state plans to push for pharmaceutical collection programs and wants to pursue federal funding to "determine the feasibility of a statewide collection program," says a press release sent out earlier today. That's a better idea.

This is part of a larger problem, where we manufacture and consume goods without really considering what happens when we dispose of them. For more on that and the drugs in the water issue, go here.

It's good to see state officials thinking about this. Hopefully some meaningful action will come out of it.