Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle Empty Pill Bottles
Sigh, too much plastic, so try to get further use from these.
What to Do With Empty Pill Bottles
Many people enjoy finding frugal ways to reduce waste. The question of how to reuse empty pill containers yielded dozens of suggestions. I love how creatively people are repurposing this common item. Here is a multitude of ideas I’ve assembled for you. Use them in your car, in your purse, in a sewing kit, while camping, and for a variety of other purposes.
Although prescription bottles are fairly small items, if someone takes multiple medications, they can pile up quickly. Every household in the country probably has some of these orange containers in their medicine cabinet or on their kitchen counter. Tossing the empty ones creates a lot of waste over time.
First Things First
Soak them in warm water to make the labels easier to peel off. Wash the interiors with soapy water. Rinse out the soap and let them air-dry completely. If some of the stickiness remains on the outside, use a product like Goo Gone to remove that. Now you’re ready to repurpose them!
10 Things to Store in Empty Pill Bottles
Hairpins
Thumb tacks
Paper clips
Needles (for your sewing kit)
Q-tips (when traveling)
Jewelry (when traveling)
Nails (for the workbench)
Quarters (keep a bottle in the car for toll booths)
Quarters (keep a bottle with your detergent for washing clothes at the laundromat)
Seeds from your flowers (to keep them dry so you can plant them next year)
Five Fun Things to Do With Old Prescription Bottles
Store your Chuckie Cheese game tokens in them.
Put some colorful beads in one with a childproof lid. Keep it in your purse for waiting rooms. Let your young child play with it like a rattle. It makes a fun diversion for a parrot or cockatoo also.
Root some plant cuttings in the window sill.
Make a gag gift for a retirement party. Fill with M&Ms and make faux prescription labels saying “take one for improving your golf game” or “take daily for energy to get up off the sofa.”
After thoroughly cleaning them, put them in the kid’s play kit for playing doctor and nurse. It’s probably best not to put anything inside so as not to confuse them about medicine.
Uses for Sewing
Keep needles in one.
Store pins in one.
Make a mini-sewing kit in one with a needle, thread, a spare button, etc. for traveling.
Sort stray buttons into them for later use.
Uses for Empty Pill Bottles for Travelers or Campers
Put shampoo in one bottle.
Put conditioner in another.
Assemble a miniature first-aid kit in one for your purse, backpack, or car.
Put matches in one for camping (with a bit of sandpaper on the lid for striking).
If you find a tick on you, put it in a prescription bottle to take to the doctor to test it for Lyme’s Disease.
Fill them with seasonings and spices (label them with a Sharpie).
Make a fire-starter kit for camping. Include dry bits of flammable items such as a cotton ball.
Make a survival kit for backpacking or to slip into your pocket while walking in the woods (see the video below for what to include).
How to Recycle the Bottles
Take them back to the pharmacy. Most pharmacies recycle. Some have a charge for recycling them (like 5 cents).
Save them for your humane society. They get pet meds in bulk and use the bottles for their meds. (Call first to be sure your local society needs them.)
Check with a local veterinarian to see if they can use them.
Some churches collect them for use in medical shipments to Africa. Go to Matthew 25 Ministries link to see the instructions and types of pill bottles they need.
Pill containers are level 5 recyclable, which means some local recycling plants do not want them mixed in with regular plastic. Gimme 5 Recycling takes these containers. Check for drop-off locations near you by clicking on the link. Many of these are at Whole Foods stores.
Check With Other Healthcare Professionals
A school nurse I know collects empty pill bottles and sends them to Haiti. Many areas of Haiti don’t have bottles, so they wrap their medicines in leaves.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2017 Virginia Allain
Awesome ideas. Thanks