Puebloans have a chance to safely dispose of unwanted items on Saturday at two free events hosted by the City of Pueblo and the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
PCSO hosts National Drug Take Back events where citizens can take away expired, unwanted, or unused prescription drugs for free.
Prescriptions can be picked up anonymously and safely disposed of. The sheriff’s deputy will collect them at her three locations between 10am and 2pm:
- Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office West Substation, 320 Joe Martinez Blvd.;
- Pueblo Rural Fire Station, 29912 US Highway 50 East (between Wago Drive and 30th Lane);
- Valley Health Mart Pharmacy, 4493 Bent Brothers Blvd., Colorado City.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, items not accepted during recovery events are needles, mercury thermometers, oxygen containers, pressurized canisters, illegal drugs, and chemotherapy substances.
The event is held twice a year and was initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a precautionary measure to avoid substance abuse and opioid addiction.
The DEA has been collecting nationwide data from events since 2016, which shows that the DEA collects 400 to 500 tons of prescription drugs at more than 6,000 collection sites each event.
Pueblo take-back event details:Pueblo County Hosts National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Drop-Off Site
The City of Pueblo hosts its own event on Saturdays at the Colorado State Fairgrounds called “Team Up to Clean Up.” Held from 8am to 3pm, citizens can dispose of household items and garden debris free of charge.
Each household is limited to one pickup size truck worth of items in total and may bring in furniture, mattresses and extra carpet. Yard debris should be easily accessible (put in trash bags or bins). You can bring your own tires, but up to 5 per household, please come with the rims removed.
Hazardous materials such as industrial waste, commercial waste, concrete, cement, rocks, paints and thinners will not be accepted at the event.
Also, please refrain from bringing in electrical appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners.
The city previously hosted cleanup teams at the fairgrounds and the CSU-Pueblo Thunderbowl parking lot in May.
Chieftain Reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com.. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.
