Santa Rosa, CA – The City of Santa Rosa, which operates the Subregional Wastewater Treatment Plant for Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati and Sebastopol, is partnering with local pharmacies to reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals that enter local waterways. One of the typical ways that people incorrectly dispose of old medicines is to flush them down the toilet or drain. These medicines make their way to the wastewater treatment plant which is designed to remove biodegradable organic material but is not designed to remove pollutants such as pharmaceuticals.
The City of Santa Rosa is implementing the Safe Medicine Disposal Pilot Program to provide a FREE and convenient option for correctly disposing 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 intentional abuse of medicines; and reduce the amount of medicine incorrectly disposed of in household garbage.
Additionally, this Pilot Program is a Supplemental Environmental Project that offsets financial liabilities and satisfies requirements set forth in Administrative Civil Liability Order No. R1-2007-0038 issued to the City of Santa Rosa by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The Safe Medicine Disposal Pilot Program will provide secure bins at participating pharmacies to take back and dispose of unused or expired tablets and pills free of charge. The Program will run from February 1 through July 2008 at the following pharmacies in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati and Sebastopol.
City of Santa Rosa
Creekside Pharmacy
Dollar Drug
Longs Drug- 4th St.
Longs Drug- Mendocino Ave.
Longs Drug- Stony Point Rd.
The Medicine Shoppe
Rite-Aid- Farmers Lane
Tuttle’s Hoen Pharmacy
Tuttle’s Doyle Park Pharmacy
City of Sebastopol
Safeway
Longs Drug
City of Rohnert Park
Longs Drug- Commerce Blvd.
Costco Pharmacy
City of Cotati
Walgreen- Old Redwood Highway
Walgreen- All Santa Rosa stores
For more information on this program, please call the City of Santa Rosa at 543-4200 or visit www.srcity.org/safemed.