My husband and I have a lot of medicine bottles that I throw away. I hate throwing them away if they can be used for something else. Could someone give me some ideas on how to recycle them?
By Teresa Tart from Durham, NC
Some diabetic patients use them to store their used needles and Lancets, until they can be taken for proper disposal. (05/25/2009)
Craft items, like beads, or take pills that are in boxes and pop them out and put in pill bottles. Takes up less space. (05/25/2009)
By Tammy
Label and store seeds from current garden fruits and vegetable for next year. (05/25/2009)
By Bev
Check with your local boy scout/girl scout office. We used these for first aid kits. Check with your local elementary school, they may have a use for them. (05/25/2009)
By Leslie Hess
In our area, a local vet uses them (tear your name off the label first) for animal prescriptions. He passes the savings on to his clients. (05/25/2009)
By Louise Leahy
Tiny sewing kit for your car or purse when traveling.
(05/25/2009)
By Julie
When we travel I put our daily vitamins in a bottle - one bottle for each day. The old label is removed of course. Also when traveling I want to take some body lotion but my home bottle is large. A pill bottle holds the right amount for a weekend.
When we camp I put toothpicks in one. I keep one in the car with quarters in it for parking, etc. (05/25/2009)
By Judi
You might want to type or write out your medical information, enclose it in a clean pill bottle, put on the lid, make a new label "Medical Information" and place the bottle into your refrigerator freezer in an accessible area. Then, place a sign on your refrigerator that states "Emergency Medical Information in Freezer" or something to that effect.
By Cora
Thanks for all the good ideas. Dibbs thanks for the one about medical information I never thought about that one!! (05/26/2009)
By Teresa Tart
They are nice to store push pins. Small children cannot open the bottles to get the pins. (05/26/2009)
By Brenda
I submitted this some time ago. If it works for spice bottles, why not pill bottles, too! (05/27/2009)
I put quarters and dimes in them & occasionally fold up a dollar bill or 2 to put in. These bottles go in the glove compartment of my car. Also in the cars of other members of my family. You'd be surprised how handy it is to have some extra money in the car.
Also, I use some for sewing storage-bobbins, needles etc. The largest size will hold many different bigger sewing notions. (05/27/2009)
By Jeane Howell
I use empty bottles for storing ibuprofen, sinus pills, allergy pills and throw the mixture (make sure you remember what each pill is!) into a pocket in my purse. It works great, especially at those unsuspecting times you need some ibuprofen! (05/28/2009)
By Jessica
We have a person at church who sends the empty ones to an organization who uses them as medicine bottles in third-world countries. (05/28/2009)
By Cheryl
I have been using the pill bottles to put seed for my garden in. They work great. (05/28/2009)
My husband drills several tiny holes in the bottles, adds 2 moth balls in each bottle, replaces the cap and puts them out around our flowers and a tomato plant to keep deer and rabbits from ruining them. They hate the smell and will them alone. Being encased in the bottle keeps them from dissolving so quickly like they do if you just scatter the moth balls around on the ground. The moth balls are also used to keep snakes away. (05/28/2009)
By Kay
There is a very pretty and apparently easy-to-make wreath made from pill bottles that you can see by clicking on the link below
It won a contest in ReadyMade Magazine for best creative re-use of pill bottles. good luck (05/28/2009)
By tahlula
I drill a hole in the top, and screw them to the bottom of a shelf in my workroom. I keep screws, pins, nails, beads,etc. in them. they are at eye level, and easy to see. just unscrew the bottle, the top stays intact, and you won't have to look for it later. craftynanny from Cooperstown, NY (05/28/2009)
By connie
If you're like me, even after finding uses, you still have alot of ongoing bottles. I fill up a bag, and then either offer them on freecycle for whoever might be able to use them. I have given them to the SPCA several times....they need them all the time. I too, have given them to the girl scouts. (05/29/2009)
By Della
Prescription Bottles? Always great to use as any small item container. You might try decorating them so you recognized what you put in them. Maybe child's sticker, or you can paint them but not perfectly, perhaps some colored tape around them.
Other Reuses? You could attempt to make holiday decorations out of them. A firecracker for the 4th of July,
attach them on some self created Halloween costume. Sure you could put one or two on your Christmas Tree after you decorate them for the season.
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Toys? I would never let the young children get the idea that they are toys. But adults could make checker or chess pieces out of them.
My wife is saving them for some woman that needs Chemo. She has been told that so many thousand plastic caps of off anything entitles that woman to a free Chemo treatment.Our whole church is saving those caps so I guess this story is true. Craft On, Mr. Thrifty (06/12/2009)
Editor's Note: Unfortunately, Snopes says that there is no free chemotherapy for exchanging caps. Here is their entry:
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