CVS Caremark in Partnership with Ocean Conservancy Cleans Up Nearly 25,000 Pounds of Trash from Shorelines across the Country

WOONSOCKET, R.I., July 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Caremark today announced its colleagues collected nearly 25,000 pounds of trash from shorelines across the country in partnership with Ocean Conservancy, a leading organization that educates and empowers citizens to take action on behalf of the ocean. The CVS Caremark Shoreline Cleanup, a national environmental employee engagement campaign, provided CVS Caremark colleagues with the opportunity to make a difference in their local communities. The program also raises awareness of the connection between clean waterways and our own health. The ocean sustains us with the basic elements of life—it produces half of the oxygen in the air we breathe, helping to provide the water we drink, and many of the foods we eat.

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The CVS Caremark Shoreline Cleanup, part of the company's commitment to local communities, hosted five volunteer events nationwide in 2013:

• Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida
• Elm Fork Trinity River in Dallas, Texas
• Montrose Beach in Chicago, Illinois
• Emerald Hills in San Diego, California
• Colt State Park in Bristol, Rhode Island

These combined cleanup efforts have resulted in CVS Caremark colleagues collecting more than 34,000 trash items totaling nearly 25,000 pounds, which equates to 11 tons.  A few of the unique pieces of trash collected include sofas, tractor tires, car parts, sinks, shopping carts, mattresses, TVs and computer monitors.

"The CVS Caremark Shoreline Cleanups provided colleagues an engaging, rewarding volunteer experience, while at the same time making a real difference in our local communities," said Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Community Relations, CVS Caremark. "Like many of our CSR initiatives, this program closely aligns with our purpose of helping people on their path to better health – with the help of Ocean Conservancy, we were able to raise awareness of how clean waterways directly impact our health & well-being."

"Trash jeopardizes the health of the ocean, coastline, economy and people and requires a collective movement to make the biggest difference," said Amelia Montjoy, Vice President of Resource Development at Ocean Conservancy. "We have a profound stake in a healthy ocean that is free of trash and marine debris, and through our partnership with CVS Caremark, we are one step closer to fulfilling this mission."

Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup is the largest volunteer effort for the ocean, bringing out hundreds of thousands of volunteers from around the world to remove millions of pounds of trash and debris from beaches, lakes and waterways. Last year, volunteers collected more than 10 million pounds of trash, marking the second highest total items reported in the Cleanup's 27-year history. Cigarettes, food packaging and plastic bottles top the list of collected trash, totaling the weight of 10 Boeing 747 jumbo jets.

About CVS Caremark
CVS Caremark is dedicated to helping people on their path to better health as the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States. Through the company's more than 7,400 CVS/pharmacy stores; its leading pharmacy benefit manager serving more than 60 million plan members; and its retail health clinic system, the largest in the nation with more than 600 MinuteClinic locations, it is a market leader in mail order, retail and specialty pharmacy, retail clinics, and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans.  As a pharmacy innovation company with an unmatched breadth of capabilities, CVS Caremark continually strives to improve health and lower costs by developing new approaches such as its unique Pharmacy Advisor program that helps people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obtain and stay on their medications.  Find more information about how CVS Caremark is reinventing pharmacy for better health at info.cvscaremark.com.

About Ocean Conservancy
Ocean Conservancy educates and empowers citizens to take action on behalf of the ocean. From the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico to the halls of Congress, Ocean Conservancy brings people together to find solutions for our water planet. Informed by science, our work guides policy and engages people in protecting the ocean and its wildlife for future generations.

SOURCE CVS Caremark