This Saturday, October 29, presents two opportunities to do some housecleaning that will keep polluting chemicals out of our rivers AND help you clean out your closets!
1. Recycle your electronics! (Champaign County residents only)
Champaign County is holding an electronics recycling event from 8:00 am to noon at the News-Gazette Distribution Center, 3202 Apollo Drive, Champaign.
This collection event will take everything from TVs to phones, computers to microwaves. FOR FREE! Electronics can pollute our waters through the leaching of materials such as heavy metals when items are thrown in landfills.
Limit of 10 items per person.
2. Dispose of unused and unwanted pharmaceuticals safely! (statewide locations)
Read more on the issue of water pollution due to pharmaceuticals …
Pharmaceuticals continue to enter our streams and lakes, presenting threats to aquatic species and unknown risks to human health. The International Joint Commission (IJC) of Canada and the United States recently released a report of their study assessing the relationship between municipal wastewater treatment plants in the Great Lakes basin and the presence of pharmaceuticals in the lakes’ waters. Every day, 1,448 municipal plants discharge 18 billion gallons of treated wastewater into the Great Lakes Basin. The report notes the ability of these plants to remove even a portion of pharmaceutical chemicals varies widely with treatment methods used. Even facilities with more treatment stages could not remove carbamazepine (anti-seizure) and diclofenac (anti-inflammatory).
While the IJC’s study concludes there is a need for more research on ecological and human health impacts of pharmaceuticals in the Great Lakes, it notes the undeniable link of ecological impact research in helping assess risks to human health: “Human health and ecological health are interconnected. The health of ecological communities and populations may act as a sentinel for human health.”
Prairie Rivers Network urges you to lessen the amount of unwanted pharmaceuticals entering our waters by participating in Saturday’s National Takeback Initiative.
