A lot of the trash we create may seem unavoidable — we don't make the decisions about how products are packaged, after all, and there are some things you just need, such as medication.
This thought led one Redditor to take to the r/Anticonsumption subreddit to ask for some advice on that very topic.
"What should I do with prescription bottles?" they wrote. "I can't necessarily stop getting these plastic bottles and when I asked my pharmacist if they had a recycling program, I got laughed at. Does anyone have any good ideas on what to do with them?"
Luckily for the original poster, their fellow Redditors had some fantastic ideas.
"Sometimes animal rescues/shelters will take them to send prescriptions home with fosters or adopted animals," wrote one commenter, with others chiming in to say that they had been thinking the same thing.
"I use them as seed storage. Can also be used to store screws or buttons or make mini sewing kits," wrote another.
A third commenter wrote, "As far as repurposing, you can use them as spice jars, for things like salad dressings and condiments if you pack lunches, for nuts and bolts and screws and such, and for small quantities of toiletries for traveling or just to carry around some lotion in your bag."
However, they added, "no matter how many uses you find, you'll eventually end up with far more than you can use anyway. And that's where we just need to keep up the pressure on the drug companies and legislators who create and perpetuate the problem."
All these suggestions were met with applause from the other members of the r/Anticonsumption subreddit. Plastic packaging is a huge problem, with microplastics making their way into every facet of life on earth.
Plastic pollution is poisoning the oceans and is made from unsustainable and nonrenewable resources. And plastic recycling is very far from where it needs to be to truly combat the issue.
One suggestion, however, was slightly more creepy than helpful.
"My mom used them for teeth," the commenter wrote.
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