Penny Pincher: Repurpose Empty Medicine Bottles

In 2007 I wrote an article, 21 Ways to Recycle Empty Prescription Bottles, for a green website called About My Planet. It was one of my most popular articles. Since 2007 I have learned of new and interesting ways to recycle empty RX (prescription) and medicine bottles. In an effort to keep these bottle out of the landfill and in addition to that article I wrote above, I have also created this page to share the new and old, but still useful ideas, with you. Just because the bottles are small doesn't mean they are not useful. Think outside the bottle and take a look at the ideas below for inspiration.

When recycling RX bottles to store food please note that some prescription medications leave behind a residue that cannot be easily washed away. Please use extreme caution if you decide to use clean and empty rx bottles to store food. If you feel uneasy about using it for food then don't. If you have no problem with it and you know there is no residue left behind after a good clean here are a few fun ways to store food inside these tiny bottles:

1. Salt and pepper shakers: Make 3-5 tiny thumb tack holes on the lid. You may need a hammer. Be careful not to break the lids.

2. Condiment holder for lunch: If you are packing a lunch and want to store some condiments with your lunch these tiny little bottles with tight lids are perfect. Easy to store and wont spill. Examples of condiments are: mayo, mustard, ketchup, salad dressing, olive oil and vinegar mix, cheese shreds, etc.

3. Dried herbs from the garden. If you grow herbs and have dried some these are perfect little containers that easily fit in your spice cabinet with the rest of the spices. They can also be give to people you loves as gifts. Make sure to label the bottles rosemary, oregano, mint, etc so you know what herbs are inside.

4. Peeled garlic for this weeks meals. If you have an extra 10 minutes a week or so you can take that time to peel some garlic and store them in these little bottles all at once. Use them in cooking or for medicinal purpose by the end of the week. It will save on prep time during the week.

Prescription bottles are great containers for small items. The bottles can then be placed in a drawer, on a shelf, or can easily fit in a purse for nice and neat organization of small items. Take a look around your house and especially in boxes and drawers at small items that could fit in a prescription bottle.

Office supplies: paper clips, thumb tacks, extra staples,

Sewing supplies: needles, thread, buttons, beads

Jewelry: rings, earrings, pendants, pins

Hair: hair ties, bobby pins

Tools: Nails, screws, bolts

Money: Nickles, dimes, quarters, pennies, rolled up dollar bills

Gardening: Seeds, seedlings, dried herbs

Scrapbooking supplies: tiny paper cut out, colorful hole punched paper, stickers, glitter

You can't forget to take the time to really clean these empty prescription bottles before you reuse them, especially for food storage. Some medicines leave behind residue and its important to wash that out.

If you don't feel comfortable reusing your prescription bottles in any way then ask your pharmacist if the pharmacy has a recycling program for your empty RX bottles. They may also recycle any old medication you may have left over. If they don't have a recycling program, offer your empty, clean and label free bottles to someone that you may know recycles them. Check online.

Note: If you obtain RX bottles from someone else please do not use the bottles for food storage. Since you are unaware of the medication they have taken you cannot be certain if medication residue is left in the empty prescription bottles or not.

Make some fun toys for your pet. If you have good sewing skills you can fill the bottle with noise maker (beans) than sew it into a toy for cats. Please note this could be a choking hazard for babies or any animal that can rip the toy open like a dog.

Help and donate. Sometimes homeless shelters take empty prescription bottles and reuse them. Call your local homeless shelter to find out if they do. Try free clinics in your area too. One more place to try is your local vet or animal shelter. Some locations will reuse the bottles to fill prescriptions for the animals.

Don't think I forgot the whole idea here is learn how to earn a few pennies form all of this. First I wanted to show you all the ways you could reuse these tiny little bottles for your own crafty and organizing needs, but if you don't care for this or are have so many prescription bottles you don't know what to do with them sell them to crafter. You wont make much. Pennies maybe, but this is the penny pinching page and we all know every penny counts.

On Ebay you can sell in bulk of 10-20 empty prescription bottles for about $10 or more dollars. I don't know how successful this is, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Other places to try to sell are: Facebook groups for beg, barter and sell or during one of your garage sells, or a fellow crafter in your neighborhood.

You also make fun crafts like the ones on Pinterest and then sell your fun crafts on Ebay, Facebook, Etsy and so on.

If you decide you want to try selling empty prescription bottles for chump change, but you don't have enough at home to collect on a weekly or monthly basis then you ask your family members and your friends for all of their empty pill bottles. Ask your neighbors. Ask on Facebook.