by Connie Oswald Stofko
Every month, when I ran out of my prescription medicine, I would get a new supply of pills in a new bottle.
Then I would throw the empty bottle from the previous month into the trash, and it would end up in a landfill.
I would throw out another bottle the next month. And the next month. And the next.
I hated to throw out the bottles, but the recycling company in our area doesn’t take them.
I finally found a way to use these plastic prescription bottles: as the base for a plant stand.
How to make a plant stand
These are the materials I used:
- 12 bottles about 4 inches tall
- 12 bottles about 3 1/2 inches tall
- A ceramic hexagon tile about 13 1/2 inches wide
- An adhesive
Bottles
The bottles are used for the base of the plant stand.
l would have liked to make the plant stand taller, but I didn’t have enough of the bottles I needed.
All of the bottles in a row have to be the same size so the plant stand wouldn’t wobble. Even though I had dozens of bottles (several people had been saving their bottles for me for more than a year), I was surprised that I had so few in any single size. Sometimes even the caps were a problem. I could have two bottles of the same size, but one cap was higher than the other by one-sixteenth or one-eighth of an inch.
I ended up with just two rows of bottles for the base.
Ceramic tile surface
You need some kind of surface to hold your plant.
If you will keep your plant stand inside, you might be able to use wood for your surface.
I would like to use my plant stand outside, so I decided on ceramic tile; wood will warp outside in the rain.
I found the tile at Buffalo ReUse in Buffalo for $7. (Where do you find materials to reuse? Please leave a comment below this article.)
Adhesive
Decide what material you will use for your surface and decide whether you want to use your plant stand inside or outside. Then go to a hardware store and ask what adhesive you will need.
I used an adhesive labeled Gorilla, heavy duty, construction adhesive, projects and repairs. Because the bottom of my tile is bumpy, this adhesive was a good choice. It has the consistency of putty and could fill in any dents. Again, ask the staff at the hardware store what glue is best for your project.
Building your plant stand
My original idea was to have the bottles close enough that they touched. I thought that it might make the plant stand sturdier if the bottles were glued together, even if just a short space on the edge of the caps touched. This would also have provided more surface area for the adhesive between the rows.
If I had grouped my few bottles so closely that they touched, it would have formed a kind of tree-trunk base at the middle of the tile. Since the tile is heavy and the bottles are very light, the plant stand is top heavy.
To make the plant stand more stable, I decided to arrange the bottles closer to the edge. That meant I had gaps between the bottles.
Make sure that you arrange the bottles evenly. Before gluing, take the time to test both rows of bottles. If the gaps between bottles in the first row are uneven, the next layer of bottles won’t fit correctly–you may find that the last bottle doesn’t fit at all.
When I felt certain that I had the spacing correct, I took away the row of bottles that will be on the bottom of the stand. Then I began to glue the bottles in the row closest to the tile. I picked up one bottle at a time and glued it in place, then moved onto the next bottle.
Tip: The first row of prescription bottles you add to your tile will be the top row and the last row will be the bottom row. That’s important to remember when you’re working upside down with the pretty side of the tile facing the floor. If you look at the first photo, you’ll notice that the top row extends out farther than the bottom row. I should have done it the other way around.
When I had the first row glued, I placed all of the bottles in the next row, making sure they were where they were supposed to be. Again, keep the unglued bottles in place while you glue the other bottles one by one.
Tip: If there is writing on the cap, use those bottles on the top row. That way, the writing won’t be visible.
If you want, you could paint the bottles. I didn’t because I want people to see that these are just prescription bottles. Plus, I didn’t want to add more material that isn’t biodegradable. (The adhesive isn’t biodegradable.)
How else can we use plastic bottles?
Gardeners, there must be more ways we can use prescription bottles.
Here are some of the qualities of prescription bottles as a building material:
- Strong
- Lightweight
- Resilient
- Free
- Plentiful
- Translucent or opaque
What are your ideas? Please leave a comment below.
Kinney’s drugs labels tear off easy peasy. No residue.
These are great tips! Thanks so much for sharing!
I just removed my name from the bottles and give them to my local SPCA. They use their own labels over mine to keep their medicine straight for their animals. I’ve given hundreds of bottles to them.
I just removed my name from the bottles and give them to my local SPCA. They use their own labels over mine to keep their medicine straight for their animals. I’ve given hundreds of bottles to them.
I use them for seeds too! I also use them for doing germination tests. I fold and then roll up the seeds I’m testing in a damp cloth, put the roll into the pill bottle, and place the cap loosely on top. The bottles are nearly infinitely reuse-able, unlike the plastic bags that are usually recommended for germination tests.
Try goo gone to remove labels.
I use them for seeds. Just put a label over the script label.
This doesn’t have to do with plants, but I use these bottles to organize stray cables. They keep them separate so the wires/cables don’t get tangled!
I have Cat food bags full of Prescription Bottles. Getting the Labels off is the Biggest Issue. I would love to GIVE them to anyone but won’t with Private Information on them.
I agree on the waste posed by those bottles. The good thing about them is they are easily found if I know I’ve used them for storage. I’ve used Goo-be-gone on some labels with good results. I also use the bottles, depending on size, for screws, nails, rubber bands, twist ties or even those small wrench-like tools for appliances that get lost in drawers.
I remove or cover the labels & use them for the SEEDS I collect from my gardens !
How do you get the labels off the prescription bottles? They don’t tear off as the glue is too strong. I tried soaking the bottles in water and then water with dish detergent, but that didn’t help either.
Great idea! Another is to use them as filler/drainage in planters or pots you’re filling with potting material. Plastic water bottles work too.