In an effort to reduce the amount of pharmaceutical waste being dumped into the Great Lakes, the Environmental Protection Agency has launched an initiative aimed at encouraging people to dispose of their expired medicine at collection centers.

The Ithaca Journal reports that the EPA also seeks to collect used electronics, as well as medicinal waste. The EPA has been collecting electronic waste for years, and also announced that they seek to collect one million pounds of waste along with one million pills on Earth Day. The ultimate goal of this initiative is to protect the Great Lakes, the world's largest supply of fresh drinking water, from further pollution.

The announcement of this initiative comes just as trace amounts of toxins originating from medicinal waste have begun to show up in the drinking water supplies of several major cities across the US. The EPA plans to set up Earth Day collection centers in New York, in the Great Lakes area, and across the US. The EPA is also raising awareness on the adverse effects of improper medicinal waste disposal on the quality of drinking water.