Making coffee at home is a great way to save money, and a coffee lover shared a clever hack to make premeasuring coffee beans for an espresso shot easy and cost-effective using old pill bottles.
The scoop
In the r/Espresso subreddit, a home barista proudly declared, "I found a new use for my old Pill containers," and posted a photo of three containers filled with espresso beans.
They added that the smaller containers hold 10 grams (0.35 ounces) of beans, while the larger red one holds 18 grams (0.63 ounces). A typical espresso shot requires 7-10 grams, so if you're preplanning and portioning out your beans, they're a perfect fit. It's also helpful to store beans in an airtight container, like a pill bottle, as they can lose their potency seven to 21 days after roasting.
How it's helping
Repurposing pill bottles this way saves money on storage solutions for your coffee, meaning you don't have to buy any new products — which also cuts down on other resources to create a new product. It also saves a little time with premeasuring: just open the bottle, dump in the grinder, and away you go.
Other people have reused bottles for travel, keeping beauty products handy on the go, or for storage for small items, saving money on new products, and reducing plastic usage. There are also organizations and companies that help you reduce your unwanted items or waste by accepting them, often with some kind of reward incentive for doing so. For pill bottles, there's Matthew 25: Ministries, which accepts clean, dry bottles and redistributes them to those in need.
Pill bottles aren't easily recyclable like other waste, because they're often too small for most municipalities or are considered medical waste. That means they end up in landfills, adding to the plastic problem. Plastic waste takes years to break down, contaminating soil and polluting the air if it doesn't end up in the ocean, where it continues to cause harm to sea life.
What everyone's saying
Redditors in the comments joked about the original poster's storage, with one person quipping: "I take the same drug."
Another asked: "Is this just for dosing on a daily basis as I'm not sure they are airtight?"
The OP responded, explaining: "Bottles like this are typically made of polypropylene and have a seal in the cap to prevent air and moisture from getting inside. I'm not certain, but I do believe these will be shelf-stable."
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