Milwaukee, Wisconsin - The Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is underway with about 100 projects across eight states including two events in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is expanding its third annual Medicine Collection Day to include four counties.
Named a “prescription for clean water and safe kids," the pharmaceutical collections will be held on Saturday in Milwaukee, Racine, Ozaukee, and Washington counties.
Meanwhile, the city of Milwaukee is hosting an electronic waste collection for its residents on next Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The e-Waste collection will be held in a parking lot just south of Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee.
City of Milwaukee residents can bring unwanted televisions and computer equipment to the collection to get them recycled, said Rick Meyers, event organizer with the city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works
Material will be recycled at no charge to residents of Milwaukee. Officials added the event is not for business waste.
Under an EPA grant, the non-profit Earth Healing Initiative is coordinating interfaith involvement in both collections.
The Earth Healing Initiative Milwaukee interfaith liaison is Rev. Brad Brown, campus pastor at Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry. Brown said interfaith contacts at the university have helped distribute 5,000 postcards promoting the pharmaceutical collection.
Both events are being promoted by clergy in local churches and temples, Brown said.
The MMSD has distributed nearly 200,000 postcards promoting the event that has been widely publicized by area media.
"The recent Associated Press investigation on drinking water helped create a lot of public interest in the issue,” said Steve Jacquart, MMSD event coordinator.
Jacquart added that expanding collections sites to four counties will make this event the district's "first truly regional Medicine Collection Day to help protect Lake Michigan, prevent childhood poisonings, and reduce substance abuse."
The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is collecting and recycling one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) and the collection of one million pills for proper disposal.
