The Best Ways to Reuse (or Throw Away) Old Pill Bottles
About two-thirds of adults in this country use at least one prescription drug , and as you can imagine, prescription drug use increases with age. But whether it’s the occasional bottle of painkiller they give you after a tooth extraction, or a regular dose to treat a chronic condition, all of these prescriptions lead to one thing: lots of old pill bottles cluttering our homes.
If you’re like most people, you probably throw old bottles in the trash, but that’s a mistake. First, the labels have sensitive personal information printed on them, so you should at least remove this before throwing away the bottle. An estimated 90% of the approximately 200 billion plastic pill bottles produced each year end up in landfills, adding to the massive plastic pollution problem we have in the world. Here’s what you should do instead of throwing old pill bottles in the trash.
Recycle them
Like any plastic, if you can recycle it, it’s a much better choice than just throwing it in the trash. But you will need to check if you can recycle old pill bottles before throwing them away with other plastic items.
Most pill bottles are made from polypropylene, which is designated as #5 plastic when recycled. Although polypropylene can be recycled effectively, it is not accepted by all recycling programs because it is more difficult to recycle . Check to see if your local recycling program accepts Plastic No. 5 before throwing old pill bottles into the trash bin at evening trash time. If your local recycling program accepts polypropylene, remove the labels before hauling bottles to the curb.
Smart ways to reuse them
Instead of throwing out old pill bottles or recycling them, consider reusing them:
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Storage. Polypropylene is a durable material, and these bottles are ideal for storing small, easily lost items such as pills, seeds, screws, nuts and bolts, or buttons. You can attach a lid to the bottom of the shelf and screw the bottle into place, creating the perfect way to keep loose bits handy, or make a “trap” out of an old pill bottle so you can easily collect loose screws. How do you work.
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Travel. Old pill bottles are also ideal for storing headphones, shampoo, Q-tips and anything else you take to the airport.
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Organize. Old pill bottles can also help organize your junk drawer by collecting everything you throw in there: batteries, paperclips, unidentified keys, etc. Instead of a drawer filled with growing chaos, you’ll have clearly defined organization.
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Crafts. If you’re a crafty person, there are tons of fun projects that can turn your old pill bottles into useful items— a gingerbread cookie , a musical instrument , jewelry , rainbow crayons , or adorable little vases .
Donate them – yes, really.
If you can’t recycle pill bottles and you’re not the sneaky type, you have one amazing option: donate them. A surprising number of organizations are always looking for donated pill bottles:
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Animal shelters are almost always happy to accept donated bottles of pills because they are used so much.
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Humanitarian aid organizations also need pill bottles. For example, Matthew 25 Ministries will accept donations of clean, unlabeled pill bottles .
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Homeless shelters sometimes accept donations of pill bottles, although you may have to contact them directly to see if they need them.
By recycling, repurposing or donating old pill bottles, you will not only avoid increasing plastic pollution in the world, but you will also be doing something good by making your home tidier and cleaner. Just be aware of your privacy and get rid of these shortcuts before you do anything.