Groundwater Green

At a recent trip to our local county fair, Our Daily Green had the opportunity to talk with the local Green Team representative about different local recycling initiatives and learned about the upcoming, first ever, DEA Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, in municipalities around the nation on September 25, 2010.

It was once common practice to simply flush unused medications or pour them down the sink. In a 2008 study, traces of pharmaceuticals were found in tap water around the nation, showing the most heavy concentrations in densely populated metropolitan areas.

According to an article from Pharmwaste problems of contamination from flushing medications are being studied by the WHO:

The World Health Organization indicates that human risk assessments have shown low concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water have a negligible health risk. But WHO points out that long-term exposures have not been evaluated, especially in populations with other illnesses or with compromised immune systems.

Also, according to the WHO, antibiotics in water supplies are a potential concern because the most frequently used antibiotics are becoming less effective as the infections they are designed to combat become resistant. That resistance increases with heightened exposure to the drugs.

There is a better way to dispose of unused prescription medications and over the counter drugs as outlined by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, including removing the drugs from the bottles, (recycling the bottles), and putting them in sealed containers such as old deli or margarine containers and mix with coffee grounds before disposal. Frankly, it is the opinion of Our Daily Green that it's a lot easier to just participate in a drug take-back program such as the upcoming national one or more frequently sponsored local ones.  

 

In 2006, the Wisconsin Groundwater Guardians organized a drug take back day, and  "homeowners turned in 418 pounds of uncontrolled pharmaceuticals and three, 3-gallon containers of controlled drugs such as painkillers. Many times during the day, as many as 10 cars were waiting in line to dispose of drugs". Many pharmacies also have collection bins. Such initiatives result in safe disposal of the pharmaceuticals by proper incineration, protecting the groundwater.

Our Daily Green encourages our readers to sort through expired and unused medications and get ready for the National Take Back day, September 25th. To find the local collection site, enter a zip code on the

Find your Collection Site(s) link at the bottom of the press release.

Make our water safer for today and future generations.

this cartoon courtesy of the fabulous artist and green cartoonist, Mean Joe Green aka Joe Mohr, MANY THANKS!

Upcyled Green

Over the past several months, Our Daily Green has pondered the future of printed-on-paper media in the digital age.

• Yesterday's post featured a free e*book
• Last week we discussed the impact of e*readers
• In the spring, we discussed thermal printed receipts

The beginning
of obsession

Will paper media become obsolete, gradually replaced by digital? As Our Daily Green simultaneously confesses and asks for absolution, we do have a magazine fetish. I am a fan of magazines and cannot resist the offers for discounted or free issues. We try to select magazines that can be recycled or reused or are printed on such materials, opting for publications with earth friendly policies. (Current favorites include Yes and Ode).

Inaugural issue

This magazine fetish began as a child, when I would receive a monthly Cricket magazine. In fact, I regularly submitted letters, stories and drawings to Cricket, dreaming of fame and fortune. Instead, we learned the art of rejection on a regular basis, setting me up for a career as a writer.

I did save all my Crickets, I believe the photo is a stunning example of perhaps the world's most comprehensive Cricket collection, including the inaugural issue from September 1973.

(note to readers: I was honored to become an affiliate for Cricket magazine, hearkening back to my youth and a love I've shared with my children... I am proud to say that I will receive a small commission if you subscribe to any of their publications via this site).

To absolve myself of some of the magazine love guilt, I was thrilled to discover all the repurposed, upcycle uses for old magazines.

Magazine Beads

Personally, Our Daily Green has cut magazines into mosaic squares to create amazing craft projects for Sunday School and other assorted outreach projects. Colorful, glossy magazine pages bring out the artist in everyone.

Many Fair Trade companies roll pages into beads or frames and have discovered other incredible ways to turn the colorful inviting pages of a magazine into permanent, artistic pieces, from jewelry to handbags to bowls.

With a little research, magazine addiction can quickly become guilt free when repurposed and upcycled!

Happy greening!

Literary Green

One of the most environmentally friendly forms of publishing are ebooks. No trees are sacrificed for the pleasure of reading. Our Daily Green is sharing a free publication with you today (more green, saved). Several of my writing colleagues are featured in the newly released, critically acclaimed Dog Days of Summer 2010.

Published by Michael J. Solender of the popular literary blog, Not From Here, Are You?,  over 80 authors of award winning flash fiction have come together to bring you a collection of reads as varied as the authors themselves. Each short story is exactly 101 words long and features the words "heat" and "summer". What a way to celebrate the end of summer and usher in the fall! Enjoy today's paper-free read. (and look for my honorable mention on page 43!)

Open publication - Free publishing - More flash