ratiopharm is proud to be celebrating the one year anniversary of our Healthy Earth, Healthy Me program on the 20th anniversary of Earth Day Canada. We would like to thank everyone who participated in our program and those who have taken on other environmentally friendly initiatives. Even the smallest initiative is a good start in keeping our earth healthy.

In response to our many customers, who felt that pharmacy was missing environmental options, we introduced Healthy Earth, Healthy Me. This unique program offered recyclable and reusable pharmacy bags to help reduce the amount of waste generated by Canadian pharmacies. Three versions of pharmacy bags were introduced, a MediBag, a larger tote bag, and a smaller paper bag. The unique MediBag is lunch-sized, waterproof, and is divided into two sections which can transport and hold prescriptions safely. The large and durable tote bag is a stylish alternative to carrying items in environmentally unfriendly plastic bags. Another option for carrying prescriptions is our small prescription paper bag made from post-consumer recycled materials. To raise further public awareness, posters were also provided to pharmacies to encourage people to reuse their vials in order to reduce the amount of plastic waste produced and to return unused and expired drugs back to the pharmacy for safe disposal.

So how did we do? Over 300, 000 Healthy Earth, Healthy Me bags were given out this past year…which means over 300,000 plastic bags were saved from ending up in Canadian Landfills.

We encourage you to join in the various events celebrating 20 years of Earth Day in Canada.

Visit http://www.earthday.ca/pub/index.php for a list of events in your area.

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

Please stay tuned for exciting new Healthy Earth initiatives in the future!

- ratiopharm EARTHAPPROVED Marketing Team