YOUR WATERSHED by Russian River Watershed Association

The Russian River Watershed Association writes a monthly column on what you can do to protect our home and water systems. This month's subject is how to safely dispose of unused and out-dated medications.

No Drugs Down the Drain!

Are unused and expired medications filling up your medicine cabinet? Don’t flush them down the drain or throw them in the trash. Help protect your family and the environment by taking your unwanted medication to a take-back location. This fall, in conjunction with the “No Drugs Down the Drain” statewide campaign, the Russian River Watershed Association and the Mendocino County Solid Waste Management Agency are adding additional take back locations where you can properly dispose of your unused medications.

Recent studies show that pharmaceuticals in rivers and streams, if present at high enough concentrations, can harm aquatic wildlife. When flushed down the drain, some medications are not completely removed by wastewater treatment plants and are discharged to surface waters. Proper disposal of unused pharmaceuticals can help protect the environment.

To minimize the amount of pharmaceuticals in local rivers and streams, the Russian River Watershed Association and the Mendocino County Solid Waste Management Agency are partnering with local agencies, pharmacies and law enforcement offices to provide additional safe medicine disposal locations in Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor, and Ukiah. This effort expands programs sponsored by the Sonoma County Water Agency & the City of Santa Rosa.

The Safe Medicine Disposal Program will provide a FREE and convenient option for correctly disposing of expired and unused medications. Proper disposal of expired and unused medications can help avoid dosing errors and self-medication; reduce the risk of accidental poisoning; reduce the potential of abuse of medicines; and reduce the amount of medicine incorrectly disposed of in household garbage and flushed down drains.

Locations:

Cloverdale:
Cloverdale Pharmacy, 117 Broad St.

Cotati:
Walgreens, 7800 Old Redwood Hwy.

Guerneville:
Safeway Pharmacy, 16405 River Rd.
Lark’s Drugs, 16251 Main St.
Sonoma County Sheriff, 1st & Church

Healdsburg:
Longs Drugs, 455 Center St.
Healdsburg Police, 438 Center St.

Santa Rosa:
Costco, 1900 Santa Rosa Ave.
Creekside Pharm., 95 Montgomery Dr.
Dollar Drug, 1055 W. College Ave.
Longs Drugs, 2771 4th St.
Longs Drugs, 2075 Mendocino Ave.
Longs Drugs, 463 Stony Point Rd.
Medicine Shoppe, 990 Sonoma Ave.
Tuttles Pharmacy, 4731 Hoen Ave.
Tuttles Doyle Park Pharmacy, 1220 Sonoma Ave.
Walgreens Drugs, 4610 Sonoma Hwy.

Sebastopol:
Longs, 788 Gravenstein Hwy North
Safeway, 406 N. Main St.

Rohnert Park:
Costco Pharmacy, 5901 Redwood Dr.
Longs Drugs, 6378 Commerce Blvd.

Windsor:
Health First Pharm., 9070 Windsor Rd.
Longs Drugs, 9030 Brooks Rd. South

Sonoma:
Rite Aid/ Maxwell Village Shopping Center, 19205 Sonoma Hwy.
Safeway Pharmacy, 477 West Napa St.
Longs Drugs, 201 West Napa St.
Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department Valley Substation, 810 Grove St., El Verano
Sonoma Police Department, 175 1st St. West.

Ukiah:
Walgreens Pharmacy, 308 E Perkins St.


For more information on this program, please call the Russian River Watershed Association at 707-833-2553 or visit: www.rrwatershed.org/safemeds. For additional disposal sites in the Russian River Watershed please visit: www.scwasafemeds.org; www.srcity.org/safemed; for Mendocino County, please visit: www.mendorecycle.org; for Sonoma County, please visit: www.recyclenow.org; and for sites in the rest of the state visit: www.NoDrugsDownTheDrain.org.