A shaving aficionado took to Reddit in search of a better travel case for their brushes. The original poster had tried a specially designed case, but it was too large. They asked for alternative recommendations.
Users responded with a surprisingly clever and economical hack: reuse a prescription pill bottle.
The scoop
"Do you have any old pill bottles lying around?" one commenter wrote. "If you find one that fits you can pop a couple of holes in the top to allow for air."
The hack is simple. Remove the label, rinse and dry the plastic container, and punch a few holes into the lid. This allows the brush to air dry if packed while still wet.Â
How it's helping
Not only does this hack protect the shaving brush while traveling, but it can also save money. A new shaving brush travel tube can cost between $8 to $20. A used pill bottle is, well, free.
Even if you don't use a shaving brush, pill bottles provide excellent storage for other toiletries. There are several clever ways to repurpose pill bottles, including as containers for cotton swabs or bobby pins or to carry a mini sewing kit or first-aid kit. People also suggested storing seeds, workbench items, or keys in old pill bottles.
Repurposing the plastic benefits the environment by keeping it out of landfills. Even though a pill bottle might have a recycling symbol, that doesn't mean it will be recycled.
The typical translucent orange pill bottle with a childproof lid is usually made of polypropylene, which is not always accepted by curbside recycling services because it is difficult to recycle. The small bottles can also fall through screens when sorted at recycling centers.
Some municipalities consider empty prescription medication containers drug waste and advise people to throw them away.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, containers and packaging account for over 28% of municipal solid waste. In 2019, 353 million tons of plastic waste was generated worldwide, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Of that, only 9% gets recycled. Half goes to landfills, and the rest is burned in open pits or winds up in the environment, where it contaminates soil and groundwater or accumulates in waterways and oceans.
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Glass containers 😎 Cleaning up plastics is costly and difficult because they break down into smaller microplastics, which pose serious health hazards for humans and wildlife.
Repurposing plastics can reduce our share of planet-heating pollution, too. Plastics make up 3.4% of global gas emissions during their life cycles. Per the OECD, 90% of that is generated by its production and conversion from fossil fuels: coal, oil, and gas.
What everyone's saying
Reddit users were all for the idea of repurposing a pill bottle.
"What an excellent solution," a commenter wrote.
"I'm not much of a traveler, but have seen this mentioned before," another said. "If nothing else, a value solution."Â
One user explained that this same method is used for shipping by professional brush makers, stating, "If it's good enough for shipping, a prescription pill bottle is probably good enough for your luggage."
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