Aurora continues its environmental efforts

ELM GROVE, Wis. —Just days before Earth Day, Aurora Pharmacy was helping to clean the environment in its own way. The company in May held its third annual Medication Collection Day, where patients were able to bring their unused medication to four counties in Wisconsin to have them removed in an eco-friendly way. The program, like others sponsored by a growing number of pharmacy retailers, aims at encouraging customers not to flush old medications down the toilet, so as to keep unwanted chemicals from washing into local waterways.

Collection sites were located in Aurora-sponsored sites throughout Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine and Washington. Altogether, more than 7,000 pounds of noncontrolled and controlled substances were collected and ultimately incinerated. Aurora partnered with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, local health departments and local police departments to conduct the medication collection—as mandated under federal law, U.S. Drug Enforcement agents oversaw the collection program.

Aurora introduced the program in 2006 in Milwaukee, resulting in the reclamation of more than 800 pounds of non-controlled substances and more than 10,000 controlled substances including pills, patches and bottles. This year’s program netted almost 4,500 pounds of non-controlled substances and almost 37,000 controlled substances—in Milwaukee alone.

Last year, two more sites were added in Waukesha and Racine counties—however, the collection efforts took place on different dates. Although last year’s program was still deemed a success at the time, the plan this year, Aurora executives told Drug Store News, was to host the collection efforts on the same day at each site, making it easier to promote to the public. Aurora used in-store advertising as well as radio, and cross-promotion with local businesses to promote the drug collection drive.

In fact, this year’s event drew so much attention, Aurora director of public relations Ron Irwin noted that the Milwaukee collection site, held in the parking lot of Miller Park, the Milwaukee Brewers’ home stadium, stayed open an extra half-hour to accommodate the large numbers of area residents that had shown up to dispose of their old meds. Aurora plans to expand the program in the future.