Pharmacies are not allowed to reuse the bottles. Give them to the ASPCA, your vet or any free clinic in your area.
By Cisco's Mom from FL
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Does anyone know of missionary projects that are in need of used pill (medicine) bottles? Had heard that the Methodist Missionary project used them at one time. I would like to get a project started through my church if possible. If not, I have several to donate on my own.
By Marsha from Eskridge, KS
I get different sizes of prescription bottles and ask for the non child proof tops and when empty i use them to mix paints, divide kinds of buttons, small nails, small screws, seeds, dried herbs for teas (these I put in the door of the freezer) and all small objects I usually will misplace goes into a bottle and then placed in the room or place where I store the things that go with it. Even my router bits are kept safe in a large bottle or 2 because the South has lots of moisture and keeping it out is a chore in itself. Happy bottling and you can burn them too.
Churches that participate in Operation Christmas Child will sometimes use medium to large pill bottles to make gifts: I have used them for fishing kits; some crafters use them to make sewing kits, etc. Right now I'm trying to find the right size pill bottle to hold quarters so that we can give these out to members willing to fill them up and return them to the church to help us with the shipping of our OCC shoeboxes.
I have researched this and this is a church that I found that you can donate all of your empty pill bottles to. Please put them inside clear Ziploc bags and send them to this address below. Thank you and God bless you!!!
Does anyone recycle prescription bottles and how do you do it?
By Jim D
I use these bottles for crafting supplies, sewing supplies, garden seeds (be sure dried out-will mold if not) and I have donated to our local veterinarian. Ask first though.
They cannot be reused for human medicine, but vets can use them for animal prescriptions. My vet even gives me a discount off my bill for bringing the bottles in for them.
Are you referring to throwing them out or crafting/using them for another purpose? If you are referring to throwing them out then I would assume they go into recycling, use a black sharpie to cover all the information. and make sure they are empty, don't want strays eating them. If your referring to reusing them for something else you should be able to find some neat craft/uses online for them.
One idea I think is pretty neat is cleaning them well, making your own funny prescription label on the bottles and give them as gifts, you can put small items in it like M&M's etc :)
In my area of Ohio there is a Humanitarian Organization that takes donations and disperses them to those in need in other countries as well as the USA. They accept prescription bottles of which can be used in other countries.
Can you tell me where to send these bottles? We were sending them to a Malawi project but they have stop excepting them for right now because they have over a million bottles sent to them that they have to ship out over seas. They said it is going to take 4 trailers and $60,000 to ship them out. So we are looking to send them to anyone else that is taking them. Thanks Norma
Most recycle centers only take #1 & #2...prescription bottles are #5
For everyone asking about donating the pill bottles, please contact your local veterinary hospitals, if they dont want them ,then start checking with your local free clinics or social welfare clinics that have in house pharmacies. Those types of places usually welcome donations due to the fact that it is expensive to purchase the pill bottles new, and they prefer to spend their budget on making sure they have the meds to give to their patients.
Marc Salisbury
2314 Olive
St. Joseph, MO
64507-1509
As long as they properly sanitize them , there is no law preventing them from reusing them for human meds. Lots of places do it. Have you ever had a prescription drug take back program in your town? If so ask them what they do with the bottles when they empty the meds out of them.
This idea might not be wise for younger children because we know it isn't medicine inside that bottle and they may know it too, but if they see something similar they may think it is alright to eat, when it could be something that could kill them. I would rather be on the safe side !!
I don't think putting candy in a prescription bottle is a good idea. Don't want kids equating pills with candy.
Any thoughts on recycling pill bottles in the Buffalo, NY area?
By Sharon
Only way safe to recycle pill bottles is call around, the city should tell you if a local hospital or clinic takes these.I use my pharmacy they take them Good for you, not throwing them out. Here we have a 211 number that tells us everything,I'm not sure what they have there.
I just now hit the link that took me to 2/2/2010 and there are many great ideas if you would want to help a Missionary group, one is children with AIDS, it also said CVS now takes them. You may want to look. God bless, I hope I helped a little.
I use them for a great deal of things like quarters for laundry/parking/sodas in the car, q-tips, hair pins, toothpicks, buttons, beads, and more.
However, if you are not a crafter or don't need them, donate them to the local assisted living center or day care center. They will find uses for them that we might not even think of...including meds.
Hope this helps.
My mom recently gave me a bunch, and I put them to work in my sewing/crafts room. I put needles, bobbins, beads, plastic rings, wiggly eyes, etc. in mine. Was thinking about watching for an old spice rack at the thrift store to put them on.
Use an old Lazy Susan swivel tray glue the bottles to the tray and then put your items into the bottles that way you can keep them sturdy easy to handle.
I am looking for an organization that takes medicine bottles and other containers.
In April, this organization was taking donations:
Many towns recycle.
You can also put an ad on Freecycle. Artistic people use these for projects.
Check with the towns re-cycle center, they usually will take any thing that is made of glass or most plastic containers, ring them first and tell of what you would like to re-cycle. If you have quite a few do not put them in a regular grocery plastic bag, do put them in a paper grocery bag, they will take the paper.
Where can I recycle medication bottles? I live near Palm Springs, California.
By Debbie
I live in San Diego and had same problem but mine had some medication left in them.i called our local 211 who directed me to call a pharmacy.I called Walgreen's I was told to destroy all medication ,do not put in trash(people get in there) don't put in water supply either.You can turn bottles and meds not uses or just empty pill bottles to them.They dispose of meds the right way and recycle the bottles.Good luck, Luana McDonald make sure you take off labels and throw away before taking them in.You can also call the hospital and they have "toxic waste" for medication and I'm sure same as pharmacy.God bless!
I use the old pill bottles for beads, sequins and other craft projects, they are great little containers and make my craft room a much neater place.
Try contacting some of vet offices near your home. They can't be reused for people medicine, but vets can use them. My vet is very grateful for the bottles I bring them.
Where in Toledo, Ohio can I recycle prescription bottles for missions?
By Carol M
I don't know what you mean by 'missions', but I donate my bottles to our local veterinarian. They have to dispense meds for the animals and can use them - best call and ask beforehand though.
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Does anyone know if pharmacies will recycle your empty pill bottles? I take 9 medications every month, 6 of which come in the pharmacy bottles.
Any place to recycle prescription bottles. I can't stand to put them in the trash and then to the landfill, but no one in our area will take them.
