14 Clever Ways to Reuse Old Medicine Bottles

Prescription medicine bottles can’t be recycled everywhere. And disposing of old medicine can be a pain. So what if you could find some ways to reuse old medicine bottles before tossing them?

We’ve collected some very smart ways to repurpose those bottles, from storing loose change to making a mini sewing kit.

Ways to reuse old medicine bottles

Be sure to sterilize medicine bottles before reusing them. This is especially important if you’re going to reuse them for small things kids or pets could put into their mouths.

Give these bottles a good, thorough dunk in boiling water before reusing them. Once they’ve been sterilized, medicine bottles can be great for storing and carrying small items.

1. Travel-Sized Containers. Medicine bottles make excellent travel-sized containers for all sorts of items. From toiletries and beauty products to first aid supplies and snacks, these small, leak-proof bottles are perfect for packing in your suitcase or carry-on bag.

Simply clean out the bottle, remove any labels, and fill it with your travel-sized essentials. The screw-top lids help prevent spills and leaks, making them ideal for liquids, gels, and powders. You can even label the bottles with a permanent marker or label maker to keep everything organized.

2. Store craft supplies. Little beads and fixtures can be stored in these bottles. It’s easier to travel with several little bottles of the beads you’re working with at the moment than a big case with divided sections. And the caps on prescription bottles ensure they’ll never spill.

3. Make a mini-sewing kit. Put a few buttons, some thread, some needles, etc. in a bottle and keep it with you for “wardrobe malfunctions.”

4. Store coins and dollar bills. These make a handy, low-profile way to store some cash and change. Great for keeping laundromat quarters, parking coins, or just a cash stash.

5. Make a mini-first aid kit. Put cotton balls, band-aids, alcohol pads, etc., in a prescription bottle and keep it with you. You could make one for your home, one for a car, one for a purse, one for the office.

6. Store seeds. If you’re tired of those little envelopes seeds come in, prescription bottles make a good alternative for storing them so they’re airtight. If you still have the envelope, wrap it around the bottle with a rubber band, and you’ve got a label.

7. Store hardware. Nails, screws and other small bits of hardware fit into these and, as with the crafts, you never have to worry about them spilling again. This can be helpful in the garage or around a workshop. Or in a tool kit.

8. Store Barbie shoes and similar tiny toy items. By now you’re getting the idea: you can store any collection of tiny things in these. This is a great way to round up Barbie shoes and other small toys so they’re all in one place (and not your vacuum cleaner).

9. Jewelry Storage. Keep your jewelry organized and tangle-free by storing it in repurposed medicine bottles. The small size is perfect for holding earrings, rings, necklace clasps, and other small accessories.

Simply clean out the bottles and remove any labels. You can use one bottle for each type of jewelry, or group similar items together. Label the bottles with permanent marker or custom labels to keep everything sorted.

This is a great way to protect delicate jewelry and prevent it from getting lost in your drawers or jewelry box. Plus, the clear plastic makes it easy to see what’s inside each bottle at a glance.

10. Glue them together to make a custom drawer or desktop organizer. Get the bottles arranged in the drawer the way you want them. Pick them up and put them on another surface, carefully mimicking the arrangement you had in the drawer as you glue them together.

11. Store dried spices or herbs. If you grow your own herbs, you can dry them out and put them in these little bottles for safekeeping. As you run out of spices, you can just add from the bottles into your spice jars.

12. DIY Shaker Lids. Take your repurposed spice jars to the next level by creating your own custom shaker lids. All you need is the empty bottle, a sharp knife or scissors, and a piece of metal mesh or screen.

Cut out a circle from the mesh that’s slightly larger than the bottle opening. Carefully poke a few small holes in the mesh to allow the contents to shake out. Then simply place the mesh circle over the bottle opening and screw on the original cap.

This DIY shaker lid turns your medicine bottle into a convenient spice or seasoning dispenser. You can even use different mesh sizes to create fine, medium, or coarse shaker lids depending on your needs.

13. Pen holders, paperclip holders, etc. Don’t buy little dishes for your paperclips and thumbtacks. Start using prescription bottles. You can cover the bottles with recycled magazine pages or junk mail. This makes them look pretty and disguises what they were.

14. Store mixed acrylic paints. Use these bottles to mix acrylic paints. If you don’t use a batch all in one project, stuff a layer of Saran wrap down in the bottle, against the paint, to close out as much air as possible. The paint may need to be thinned slightly next time, But thanks to having been nicely sealed up in the prescription bottle it’s still usable.

Got more bottles?

So after you’ve reused your medicine bottles every way you can, maybe you still have more. There are some places that will take those off your hands.

Vets. Some local vets will take old prescription bottles off your hands to dispense medication for pets. Call around to find out which local vets are interested in your bottles.
Charitable organizations. Some charities will reuse old prescription bottles to dispense medications in third world countries. Unfortunately, there’s no list of charities that do this, so you have to do some research. Call local medical charities and see if anyone’s interested.
Free clinics and homeless shelters. These organizations may also take and reuse these containers. Rules governing whether they can use these to dispense medication are local, so your area may not allow it. But if it does, call around the clinics and shelters in your area to see. Try your local Union Rescue Mission for starters.