Recycling is great for the planet, but it can be confusing to find the best ways to reuse and dispose of different items.
Medicine bottles, for example, typically aren't accepted by curbside recycling programs and can't be reused because of potential contamination. So what can you do? Well, one Redditor received a lot of useful tips on this topic when they posted in the r/Anticonsumption subreddit asking what to do with their prescription bottle collection.
The OP wrote, "I really have no use for them in terms of upcycling them to use around the house. Any suggestions on ways I can recycle these bottles?"
While a lot of replies had great suggestions for using them to store things at home, such as seeds, rings, hair clips, and sewing kits, the OP was most interested in ways to recycle them outside the home.
Recycling or reusing old pill bottles is a great way to keep them out of landfills, where they will stay for a really long time because they are made from thick plastic. Plastic never really disappears, it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces known as microplastics.
Microplastics are now widespread throughout the environment, and we are ingesting them through the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Microplastics have been found throughout the human body and even in the placentas of pregnant women. We are not yet sure what impact this is having on our health, but research suggests it could be linked to health issues like heart problems and strokes.
There are several organizations — like Trashie and GotSneakers — that can help you recycle items instead of throwing them away, helping to reduce the amount that ends up in landfills and pollutes our environment.
Several people suggested donating them to vets offices for pet medicine, asking artists and art shops if they could use them for projects or mixing paint, and the final suggestion was looking into take-back programs offered by pharmacies in the state.
"Your local animal shelter can probably use them," wrote one commenter.
"Like almost every pharmacy will take them back, just drop them in the drop-off box," added another.
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