Vendor a. Allen on going green
All Chicago Police Department facilities accept unwanted medicines through the MWRD program. For more information, call 311 or visit cityofchicago.org. The City of Chicago’s Household Chemical & Computer Recycling Facility at 1150 N. Branch St. accepts unused or expired prescriptions – non-controlled substances only, from 7 a.m.-noon Tuesdays, 2-7 p.m. Thursdays and 8 a.m.3p.m. first Saturday of the month. Other drop off sites include: • Evanston Police Department Dropbox, 1454 Elmwood Ave., 847.866.5000 (Open 24/7) • Kenilworth Police Department, 419 Richmond Road, 847.251.2141 Monday-Friday 24 hours • Oak Park Police Department (Dropbox) 123 Madison St., 708.383.6400 (Open 24/7) • Park Ridge City Hall Health Department 505 Butler Place 847.318.5291 First Thursday of the month, 8-11 a.m. • Skokie Courthouse (Dropbox) 5600 Old Orchard Road, 847.470.7280 Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. No liquid forms of medication.
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• Wilmette Police Station (Dropbox) 710 Ridge Road, 847.256.1200 (Open 24/7) Medications only, no needles. • Winnetka Fire Department, 428 Green Bay Road, 847.501.6029. Medications: Monday-Friday 8:304 p.m.; sharps Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. • The full list is available at mwrd. org/medication-disposal CVS offers prescription medicine disposal at 1200 N. Ashland Ave., 773.342.5917; 2815 N. Western Ave., 773.486.4102; 345 Madison St., Oak Park 708.386.2157 Walgreens offers unwanted prescription medicine dropoff at 151 N. State St., 312.863.4249; 2001 N. Milwaukee Ave.773.772.2370; 3201 N. Broadway, 773.327.3591 and 811 Madison St., Oak Park, 708.383.9009 DisposeRx home medication disposal packets are available at Walgreen stores without disposals at no cost upon request. When water and the DisposeRx proprietary solidifying materials are added to the prescription vial and shaken, the drugs are dissolved and locked in a viscous polymer gel that can safely be disposed in the trash. CVS offers DisposeRx packets to people filling an opioid for the first time. More information is available at www.cvs.com/content/safer-communities-locate, www.walgreens. com/topic/pharmacy/safe-medication-disposal.jsp and https:// safe.pharmacy/drug-disposal/ –Rachel Koertner contributing
Walgreens has installed safe medication disposal kiosks at more than 500 stores nationwide (Walgreens photo).
I can easily see how recycling fits into this category. I know people who recycle for money – as I used to do. Although I am clean now, I took my empty beer cans to metal shops and sold the aluminum by the pound. I also know of people who recycle for the sake of the environment. Either way, for money or environment, it helps sustain natural resources for current and future generations. All of this is all good, but I would like to elaborate on how StreetWise is going green in pursuing knowledge and practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible lifestyles. StreetWise has a way of recycling people, which is good for the environment. We still practice a hand up, not a hand out. Most of us vendors have turned from a life of crime or begging to becoming upright, hardworking businesspeople who daily go out to earn an honest living selling a very good quality, informative and entertaining magazine.
INSIDE STREETWISE
personal information. Liquid containers should be placed in plastic bags. Illegal drugs, liquid containers of more than 4 ounces, sharps containers, needles, syringes, medical devices and other hazardous materials are not accepted. If you are dropping off outside your hometown, check with the site to see if they accept meds from nonresidents. Meds will not be reused, but destroyed responsibly.
Going green means pursuing knowledge and practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles, which can help protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for current and future generations.
There’s a lot of things you can recycle, from plastics, to paper, to metals, even sunlight. But nothing is more important than people.
