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Erie, PA residents dropped off about 600 pounds of medicine and personal care products on April 26, 2008 at the Cruise Boat Terminal Building during the Pennsylvania Sea Grant pharmaceutical collection. Located behind the Dr. Raymond Blasco Memorial Library the collection brought in over 73,000 pills and a lots of controlled substances like narcotic pain medication, said Sara Grisè, PA Sea Grant coastal outreach specialist. Results:: 87 participants 120 gallons of materials 5 of the 120 gallons were controlled substances About 600 pounds of medicine/personal care products Controlled: 3,839 pills Non-Controlled: 69,232 pills Personal Care products: 384 The Keep Unwanted Medicine out of Lake Erie Medicine Collection Day was part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge. The challenge involved over 100 collections across eight states. Lake Erie's reputation especially in the 1960s and 1970s was an extremely polluted and even dead lake. By all accounts, residents and officials have done a great job restoring Lake Erie - where fishing, boating and swimming are popular. The EPA Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan helped the recovery of Lake Erie. Officials have been fighting the Zebra Muscle problem in Lake Erie. One pharmaceutical collection goal was to prevent medicine s from being discharged into Lake Erie and make sure drugs don't end up in other lakes and streams. Many wastewater treatment plants around the world are not designed to remove the cocktail of chemicals after the drugs are flushed or dumped down the drain - and the drugs can leach out of landfills into the groundwater. Unsung heros at pharmaceuticals collections are police and pharmacists without whom the collections wouldn't be possible. Erie Police, pharmacists accepted pharmaceuticals. Based on experience, organizers discovered the turnout was bigger when residents don't have to preregister. Of 87 residents participating in the collection, 61 did not preregister. And similar to the other collections, most Erie participants were older adults as 89 percent were over the age of 46. Assisting the event was ECS & R - Environmental Coordination Services and Recycling in Cochranton, PA. Organizers of the Erie collection included PA Sea Grant, the City of Erie, Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force, LECOM School of Pharmacy, and Erie Times-News in Education. Organizers partnered with WJET-TV Erie Green Campaign. WSEE TV provided their news story for use in this video. The PA Sea Grant received a grant from the United States EPA (EPA). The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills. The EPA says those goals were exceeded by 400 to 500 percent. The Earth Healing Initiative assisted some challenge organizers by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encourage members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area. This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US EPA in collaboration with the EPA's Region 5 office, EPA Great Lakes National Program Office in Chicago and the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI. The EHI involves American Indian tribes and a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment. Greg Peterson, Earth Healing TV --- Sara Grisè PA Sea Grant 814-217-9011 www.pserie.psu.edu/seagrant/seagindex.htm EPA Region 5 www.epa.gov/region5 ECS&R www.ecsr.net WJET-TV yourerie.com/content/green WSEE TV www.wsee.tv Erie Times-News www.goerie.com City of Erie www.ci.erie.pa.us www.ci.erie.pa.us/Departments/PoliceDepartment/tabid/72/Defa ult.aspx Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force www.earthforce.org/section/offices/lea LECOM school of Pharmacy www.lecom.edu/school_pharmacy.php Photos by Pat Noble,WikiProject Erie en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pnoble805 en.wikipedia.org/

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