With an imminent worker shortage, the Quad Cities are faced with the need to keep and attract young people.

Despite thousands of jobs becoming available in the coming years and significant improvements in the number and variety of amenities in the Quad Cities over the past decade, leaders are faced with a deep-rooted problem: perception.

Area residents can safely dispose of old medications, exchange mercury thermometers for a digital, pick up and drop off sharps containers, and have data-sensitive documents shredded free of charge during Operation Medicine Cabinet from September 18 through 20. Operation Medicine Cabinet will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the following locations: Thursday, September 18, Medic EMS Facility, LeClaire Road and Highway 61, Eldridge; Friday, September 19, Bettendorf Fire Station, Middle Road and Crow Creek Road, Bettendorf; Saturday, September 20, Scott Area Recycling Center, 5640 Carey Avenue, Davenport. Residents can call the Waste Commission of Scott County at (563) 381-1300 or visit WasteCom.com for additional information. Last year's event yielded 11,780 pounds of material, which included approximately 1,245 pounds of pharmaceuticals, 660 pounds of sharps, 39 pounds of mercury thermometers, and 9,836 pounds of documents for shredding.

Living Lands & Waters, Chad Pregracke's not-for-profit environmental organization, is gearing up for acorn collection for the MillionTrees Project. The organization is asking community members to collect and donate their acorns to the project with a goal of collecting 300,000 seeds to plant in its nursery this fall. These acorns will grow for one to two years, and the saplings will then be transplanted back into their native communities. The MillionTrees Project was initiated in September 2007 with the goal of growing 1 million native hardwood fruit- and nut-bearing trees over the next five to 10 years. Send seeds to: Living Lands & Waters; c/o MillionTrees Project; 17624 Route 84 N; East Moline IL 61244. If you have specific questions about the MillionTrees Project, contact Denise Mitten at (309) 236-6279 or milliontrees@livinglandsandwaters.org. For more information on other Living Lands & Waters projects, visit LivingLandsAndWaters.org.

Volunteers at the fifth-annual Xstream Cleanup on Saturday, August 16, removed 142,566 pounds of debris from area waterways, illegal dumping sites, and flood-ridden areas. Cleanups were held at 39 locations in Bettendorf, Davenport, and LeClaire, Iowa, and Colona, East Moline, Milan, Moline, Rock Island, and Silvis, Illinois. More than 1,300 volunteers worked nearly 4,200 hours and collectively gathered 2,187 bags of trash, 2,416 tires, 36 appliances, and 54 bicycles. This represented 75,180 pounds of trash, 63,444 pounds of tires, 2,700 pounds of appliances, and 1,242 pounds of bicycles. Full statistics, a list of items removed, and photos of cleanups can be viewed at XstreamCleanup.org.