BLOG: Every Day is Take-Back Day in Nebraska

by Jennifer Wemhoff, Groundwater Foundation

Earth Day is just around the corner, but what does it have to do with old medications?

Did you know that over-the-counter and prescription medications can contaminate waterways – rivers, lakes, and groundwater – when flushed, put down the drain, or thrown in the trash? 

“It’s easy to simply toss old medications in the trash or flush them down the toilet without realizing the potential environmental impact,” said Jane Griffin, Groundwater Foundation Executive Director. She points out research from the U.S. Geological Survey that detected traces of medications in streams and groundwater supplies, and that “most water treatment facilities don’t have the capacity to remove these compounds.”

Instead of flushing or trashing those old medications, take them to a Nebraska MEDS Initiative pharmacy. Find a participating pharmacy near you at www.leftovermeds.com. 

“Fortunately, it’s also easy to return leftover and expired medications to MEDS Initiative Pharmacies across the state,” Griffin said. “It’s a simple step we can all take can take to protect our water resources.”

“Every day, including Earth Day, is take-back day in Nebraska,” said Marcia Mueting of the Nebraska Pharmacists Association. “Over 320 pharmacies across the state accept medications for proper disposal, giving consumers an easy and safe method of keeping medications out of the environment.” 

Mueting points out that many consumers wait until the National Prescription Drug Take Back Days, which happen in late April and October every year, to get rid of old medications. “While it’s great that these medications aren’t being flushed or put in the trash, there’s no need to hold on to them until the DEA’s take-back days,” she said. “Pharmacies across Nebraska will take back medications every single day.”

The Nebraska MEDS Initiative is funded by the Nebraska Legislature. The Nebraska Medication Education on Disposal Strategies (MEDS) Coalition educates Nebraskans about drug disposal and provides safe ways to dispose of them to better safeguard the environment and protect public health. The Coalition includes the Nebraska Pharmacists Association, Groundwater Foundation, Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department, Lincoln Police Department, Coalition Rx, Lincoln Public School Nurses, LiveWise Coalition, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Nebraska Medical Association, AARP of Nebraska, Nebraska Pharmacy Foundation, Nebraska Regional Poison Center, Safe Kids Lincoln-Lancaster County, KETV, Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, and Nebraska State Patrol.

BLOG: 10 from 2016

by Jennifer Wemhoff, The Groundwater Foundation

The door is about to close on 2016. Here's a look back on 10 things that happened at The Groundwater Foundation this year:

1. Our mission was revamped and refocused: We connect people, businesses, and communities through local groundwater education and action, making us all part of the solution for clean, sustainable groundwater.

2. Amazing volunteer teams across the U.S. were recognized for local, proactive efforts to educate their communities and protect groundwater through the Groundwater Guardian program.

3. The Nebraska MEDS (Medication Education on Disposal Strategies) Coalition, which The Groundwater Foundation is a founding member, worked with nearly 300 pharmacies across Nebraska to take back thousands of pounds of unwanted or expired medication for proper disposal, keeping them out of water supplies.

4. The Hydrogeology Challenge event created for Science OIympiad (SO) was featured in the 2016 National Tournament. The Challenge has been adapted for use in classrooms and extracurricular activities beyond SO.

5. Two new members joined The Groundwater Foundation's board of directors, Chris Barnett of the Marion County Wellfield Education Corporation in Indianapolis, IN and Kirk Welch of the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District in Dumas, TX.

6. The Groundwater Foundation's Twitter account topped 4,300 followers, and Facebook went over 2,300. We also ventured into the world of Instagram.

7. The Awesome Aquifer Kit was adopted as part of the K-5 science curriculum in The Groundwater Foundation's hometown school system, Lincoln Public Schools. 

8. A new collaboration with University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Science Literacy includes The Groundwater Foundation as part of an effort to educate secondary educators.

9. Green spaces across the U.S. participated in the Green Site program and received designation for managing their site with groundwater in mind.

10. Sara Brock joined the groundwater team as Program Manager, heading up the Groundwater Guardian program, youth programs, and others.

We're glad to have you as a partner in our mission and in protecting groundwater. Cheers to groundwater in 2017!

Anniversary Story: "From Intern to Partner" by Dan N. King

"From Intern to Partner"

by Dan N. King, Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department

I was hired in 2004 by The Groundwater Foundation where I served in different roles such as an Intern, GIS Specialist, and Program Assistant. I was employed for almost two years with my primary duties focused on the Foundation’s Blue River Basin Community/Source Protection Program. The project brought Nebraska and Kansas partners together to address excessive fecal coliform and atrazine impacts to source water throughout the basin. It was during this time that I had the privilege of learning from Groundwater Foundation founder, Susan Seacrest, who was relentless in her quest to educate and motivate people including me. I can remember her encouraging talks helping me to expand outside of my comfort area and to become the public health and environmental professional that I am today. The Blue River project included traveling throughout the basin Kansas where I met with community leaders and discussed how to move communities forward toward basin-wide water protection goals. It was a pivotal and growing experience. I would like to think that the Blue River Basin is healthier and safer because of our collective efforts.

I never thought my professional work would come full circle so soon and bring me back to The Groundwater Foundation but that is exactly what happened. Jump forward to 2006-07 when the Groundwater Foundation was again working to draw attention to a serious threat to ground and surface waters; that being pharmaceutical and personal care products. Highlighting a then recent study by the USGS, The Groundwater Foundation put themselves in the role of messenger and facilitator in organizing educational resources and opportunities for discussion and learning.

It was at that time as a newly hired Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department employee, that I attended a 2007 Groundwater Foundation workshop that brought concerned individuals, organizations, and communities together around the topic of water quality impacts from products that were finding their way into streams, lakes and drinking water. This workshop would be a couple years before the Associated Press investigative study that identified that some 10 million US citizens were drinking a cocktail of water, unwanted medications, and other waste products. Out of the workshop the Nebraska MEDS (Medication Education on Disposal Strategies) Coalition was formed to tackle the task of changing behavior away from flushing unwanted medications to waste disposal methods that were more protective of public and the environment.

The Nebraska MEDS Coalition went forward to change state law allowing for the return of medications to pharmacies for proper disposal. Following this important step, the Coalition rallied around a pilot project in Lincoln and Lancaster County to fund a medication disposal system that was conveniently pharmacy based. Now, some six years later and after state funds were appropriated for the effort, 260+ pharmacies across the state are actively collecting leftover medications with 8,000 pounds of medications being collected for safe and legal destruction. That is 8,000 pounds of pollution that will not be in our drinking water. I don’t believe this would have happened without the leadership and vision of The Groundwater Foundation. I’m proud to call myself a past employee and partner of The Groundwater Foundation. 

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3 Weeks Until the 2015 Groundwater Foundation National Conference and 30th Anniversary Celebration!

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Prescription Drugs in Drinking Water: Guest Blog

A Guest Blogger from Sacramento, CA. writes...

"I recently heard an interview [with an employee from The Groundwater Foundation] on the radio. She repeated the mantra prevalent in the municipalities and administrative circles that cleanup of the water is impracticably expensive. The place to address the problem is with the sewage discharges, not water treatment for drinking as she seemed to imply, and I beg to differ about cost. Combine wetland treatment with reverse osmosis and you greatly lower the costs, while preventing the accumulation of drugs, nitrates, chloride and other salts in our water supplies -groundwater and surface water- in the first place. "

"The California Central Valley has perfect conditions for such a solution and a pressing need unacknowledged by the state water regulatory boards. To counter this there is also a pressing need for a cost study showing practical cost levels rather than the extreme one usually referred to which calls for reverse osmosis of the sewage discharge directly, without wetland. The state here is -- by policy -- now directing new urban sewage discharges to land over our aquifer and they will foul it in short order unless compelled or persuaded to change. Can you help?"