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Empty Med Bottles?

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Posted 1/20/2012 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
 

     One of our members asked this question, and I thought I would post it here.

      "Let me ask all of you, what do you do with all your MT prescription bottles? The stickers are hard to get off...especially the pre-labled name brands."

 

       The school that my 10yr old stepson goes to, collects them for some reason, (arts and crafts?) so my wife peels off the labels and turns them into the schools.

 

    SE wink

Posted 1/20/2012 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
I do my best to peel off all of the sticker, so no one can get a refill off
any of my medicine bottles and I then throw out, and I do shred the labels,
I do use some bottles for penny holders...
but you get so many, and pharmacies don't reuse these...wish it was less waste
Posted 1/20/2012 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
I remove all labels off of my bottles & then chunk the bottles. The bottles that have the label on them from the mfg. I just soak those in water and the label comes right off.
Posted 1/20/2012 4:31 PM (GMT 0)
I've put them to lots of uses. Here are some:

- loose change
- in-ear headphones
- dried home grown spices (basil, oregano, rosemary)
- split up big bottles of ibuprofen & zantac for different places in the house
- twist-ties (the plastic sort that come with new electronics)
- random nuts, bolts screws, allen keys, adjustable shelf supports, etc.
- extra sets of rechargeable batteries
- while I get a bottle of 90 hydrocodone, kept in a lock-box, I pull out enough for a few weeks at time and they go into a small bottle... actually bottles --- one in my nightstand, one at my desk.


I have probably about 25 old bottles in use... and keep another 25 or so handy. The rest get thrown out (labels removed).
Posted 1/20/2012 5:06 PM (GMT 0)
I have used them for so many things. anywhere from hunting scents to nuts and bolts. I even keep an extra bow string in one and keep that in my back pack. I also use one for keeping different types of fire starting materials in.

Bill
Posted 1/20/2012 7:31 PM (GMT 0)
I take mine to be recycled with all my other plastics.
I am fortunate that they take all plastics.

The huge bottles that the Gabapentin come in make good change collectors.
Posted 1/20/2012 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
I donate mine to an elderly womans group that uses them for their beads as they make jewelry. It is such a waste that the pharmacy's can not recycle them.
Posted 1/20/2012 10:44 PM (GMT 0)
Mine I just throw in a bag... I will have to figure something out.... my pile is getting out of control!
Posted 1/21/2012 3:35 PM (GMT 0)
I peel or soak the labels off mine.

Some of them the kids use for craft stuff and the rest my hubby takes to the transfer station for recycling.
Posted 1/21/2012 3:45 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I don't usually post here, but I do use a lot of prescription vials. I use large ones for my sharps from testing blood glucose. When it gets full, I seal with duct tape and discard safely in the trash. Like many of you, I recycle the ones I can't use for other things.

It's really important to remove labels. In addition to someone trying to get a refill from the bottle, having opiate prescription labels in your trash can make you a target for home invasion robbers. I never let on to anyone that I ever take anything stronger than Mobic.
Posted 1/22/2012 12:25 AM (GMT 0)
That's a real good point, Judy, and one that I've never thought of.  Thanks, I will remove my narcotic labels before I toss them out.

Lindaloo

 

Posted 1/22/2012 12:37 AM (GMT 0)
After peeling the labels off my bottles, I use them for various things. Spare button holders, for sewing needles in my sewing box, to hold paper clips and push pins, and hair bands wrapped around the big ones in the bathroom. We use them on camping trips to hold baby powder and baking soda, salt and sugar. We use them for the boys earbud headphones, for spare USB cords and to hold twist ties. Our neighborhood recycles the little things as well, so what we don't use, we recycle.

Great topic!
Posted 1/22/2012 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
I always take the labels off of my bottles.... whatever doesn't come off, I go over w/ a Sharpie.

I throw them away (in the recycling).... even though I know there are other uses for them.... because, with young children in my house, I don't want the kids to know they are for anything else but medication - and that we don't touch them. But that's just me and because of the amount of young kids in my house.

--Tina
Posted 1/23/2012 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
Momto8kids - I totally agree with you. I made a funny Rx label once and attached it to an empty RX bottle and filled it with chocolate candy - It was for a friend who was going through a hard time and the RX said something about take as many as needed for whatever reason. Anyway, when I gave them to her, her young son was in the room. I think we both had the same thought simultaneously - this is not a good idea. So, I think she dumped the cand y and immediately got rid of the bottle.


It it too bad that the pharmacies can't recycle them somehow.
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