Home barista shares genius way to repurpose empty prescription bottles: 'Too good not to share'

A coffee enthusiast stumbled upon a useful organizational strategy that also happens to support recycling by reusing empty pill bottles for portion control. They were eager to share it on r/espresso. 

The scoop

"I always feel bad about throwing away plastic prescription bottles. I found that these are airtight, and perfectly fit 18.5 g of coffee beans," the original poster wrote. "So I can pre-weigh a double shot for three days (until I get five) ... I thought this was too good not to share."

Pill bottles are super versatile and are often reused in various ways. Some painters use them as canvases or when painting miniatures. They're also handy in the bathroom, with emergency kits, and in the freezer. Matthew 25: Ministries does great work with pill bottles, collecting, cleaning, sorting, and shipping them to doctors and pharmacists worldwide who need supplies. 

How it's helping

This hack helps avoid the need to buy new containers and saves home baristas a few bucks in the process. It also prevents the hard-to-recycle plastic containers from being sent to landfills, where they can shed microplastics that end up in the seafood many people eat and can cause endocrine issues and infertility in humans. Using pill bottles instead of Keurig cups will also cut down on plastic waste. 

Maintaining some portion control with coffee beans is also useful. Coffee beans require a lot of water to grow, and agricultural operations often resort to deforestation to meet demand. Moderating coffee intake is very helpful in diminishing those supply chain costs. 

What everyone's saying

Reddit community members were completely on board with reusing pill bottles for their morning espresso routine. 

"When people tell me I have a problem with the amount of coffee I drink, I tell them it's medicinal. So yeah, this tracks," one user said.

"I need this for my mom so she can stop drinking so much coffee," another commented. 

"I do this when I travel and don't want to take the full bag and/or scale," someone else shared. 

What would you think if someone gifted you a repurposed food jar? I would love it! 🥰 Depends on what it's repurposed into 🤔 I would appreciate the thought 🙂 No thanks! 😒 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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