Pill packaging rant:

[trof]

Yesterday I picked up a bottle of Co Q 10 enzyme capsules.
30 in the white plastic bottle, right there on the label.

When I opened the 3 1/2 " high bottle, the pills barely covered the bottom of the container.

Why does a scant 'inch' of pills have to come in a 3 1/2" bottle?
And is that plastic petroleum based?
What a needless waste.
:grr:

[hedgehog]

1. I can do better than that - how about Prilosec which is sold OTC in

blister packs?

[TX-RAT]

2. Those things are a pain in the ass.

[poverlay]

3. How about the dumb blister packs that you need industrial strength scissors to open?

Those things are brutal. You can mess up everything from your fingers to the pill and never get near to actually touching the pill. Like my dad says:
"If they put half the quality of the packaging into the product, everything would be better!"

[BluePatriot]

10. And why, WHY

are the hardest ones to open, friggin' Immodium? Shouldn't it be obvious people need to get to those pills with, uh, urgency?

[PDJane]

4. I have arthritis.

My damned medication comes in those (&*()(* blister packs.......or in a child-proof bottle. I have had days where I needed someone to open the damn things so that I can kill the pain so that I can open the damn things, you know?

Hate them.

[Warpy]

6. That's my pet peeve, too

The worst one ever was painkillers in one of those damned bottles when I was sporting a cast on one hand. I'd asked for an easy open bottle but couldn't see through the bag to know if I got it until I got home. I hadn't.

I had to open that sucker with a hammer. I kept the rest of the pills in a coffee mug.

[TX-RAT]

5. It's actually cheaper that way.

Why produce 10 different sizes when 2-4 will do. With simple 4 cavity molds for injection molding machine running around 65,000 dollars, and larger multiple cavities ( 24 to 72 ) going for over a 1/2 mil, it makes sense.

[Norquist Nemesis]

7. Wish I could recycle all of the pill bottles from hubby's meds

They should have people bring them back and get a credit or something for them.

[Ilsa]

8. Links for re-using and one program of recycling:

Yeah, pill bottles, and little plastic sleeves for pill packs. Lots of waste there. I have asked my pharmacist about recycling, and they said they could not.

One of the thought processes of people who keep stuff for too long is that they have a desire to reuse and recycle and keep putting things to work for them.

Here is an article about a TN VA Clinic that is recycling and keeping three tons of waste from the ladfill every year:
http://tennessee.gov/environment/ea/pdf/tp3_ss-quillen_wr06-2.pdf

Here is a link about sending them to a mission field:
http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/bottles.htm
I have no idea if this is still current or if there is any breach in law over something like this.



Here's some bad news:
http://www.ecocycle.org/askeco-cycle/20030822.cfm
Vitamin bottles and recycled school work
August 22, 2003

Dear Marti,
I'm wondering about pill and vitamin bottles. They usually have a #1, #2 or #5 on them. Am I correct in assuming they can be recycled?
Signed,
Ernie

Hi, Ernie

Plastics recycling is definitely confusing. Sometimes it seems you have to have a PhD in polymers, resins, and melting indexes to sort it all out. Admittedly, I'm lacking a plastics PhD myself, but I took the abridged course. You're right, of course. The guidelines ARE that you can recycle #1 and #2 bottles, and it makes sense to assume a plastic vitamin or prescription "bottle" would fit into that category. But you happen to have hit upon the great exception to the #1, #2 and #5 bottle rule.

Prescription and vitamin bottles will frequently have the right numbers on them, but they are not recyclable. You'll notice they are more rigid than your other recyclable bottles. That's because, though they do start out as the same material, they go through a different manufacturing process and as a result don't have the same melting point as other bottles with a #1, #2 or #5 on them. They have a different consistency at the same temperature (sometimes thinking of "soup" versus "pudding" is helpful), making them incompatible in a re-manufacturing process. It's the same reason plastic bottle tops can't be recycled, no matter their number. So there you go! You now have an honorary plastics doctorate from Eco-Cycle.

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. Thanks for the info

very helpful!