How we choose to use and dispose of pharmaceuticals and personal care products impacts water quality—the water that we drink, bathe in, and use for recreation. Most of us do not use all of the medication that we buy. But using the toilet or trash to dispose of medicine can put people, animals, and the environment at risk. Since 2008, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has helped communities establish medicine collection programs by providing financial and technical support, including a toolkit of information, ideas, and resources to a network of new and on-going community single-day and permanent collection programs. Altogether, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has helped establish 52 permanent medicine collection programs (50 of which are still in operation). The 22,370 pounds of unwanted medicine collected in 2017 brings the total amount to a whopping 203,923 pounds, which equates to over 100 tons of properly disposed of medicines.

Impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas do not allow rain and snowmelt to soak into the ground and often result in more pollutants entering local bodies of water as the stormwater runoff picks up pollutants. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant was funded by Illinois EPA to study the standards and costs of green infrastructure as a possible replacement or supplement to conventional urban stormwater infrastructure. The study found that, on average, green infrastructure practices are just as effective as conventional stormwater infrastructure, and often less expensive.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant introduced aquatic ecology to 22 Purdue Northwest University seniors. This semester-long course covers water quality, hydrology, nutrients, aquatic life, and more. The course helped students secure employment and take part in stewardship opportunities. One student who developed curricula as part of a class project, secured a position as a high school AP biology teacher after graduation. Three students were hired as interns with the National Wildlife Habitat Council. And several students introduced the Hoosier River Watch, a citizen stewardship organization, to the class and recruited two more volunteers.

The Congressional report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, states that building a workforce literate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is crucial to maintaining America’s competitiveness in a rapidly changing global economy.