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I have a bunch of bottles I was saving for something like this, but I can't mentally separate "food" from "medicine" just yet.

Also, my baby eats food now, and the baby food jars are way more tempting.

yuck. Nuff said.

I'd be kind of concerned about traces of medicine getting into my spices. I suppose it would be ok if you knew what had been in the bottle and knew it was safe, but still...

Food IS Medicine...especially spices.

Check it:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/98/3.5.98/spices.html

I like this quite a bit.

I wouldn't recommend this if you have children in the house. They might see things like cinnamon and sugar coming out of these bottles and think good/sweet things come from medicine bottles. Or be confused that what comes out of the bottles is o.k. to eat. If they were to come a cross a real medicine bottle with a loose cap they might think the contents are edible.

Interesting upcycle. But I don't think I'd do it, sorry.

I don't like this at all, as someone with a severe, life-threatening allergy to a common antibiotic. I'd be very concerned if I was a dinner guest at someone's home that did this. I think there are better options.

My parents did this sort of thing....but they were both pharmacists and seeing medicine bottles everywhere didn't bother them.

Eh, no. I agree w/JNS that this is a no-no in a household with children. Just like you don't reuse bottles from cleaning solutions. And there's just a creepy factor that gets me. If someone bought clean new bottles from medical supply it creeps me out a little less, but re-using actual prescription bottles? I think it's the association with illness that I don't want in my kitchen.

and here i've just been using my old Rx containers to hold quarters for the laundromat...

At first I thought this was a good idea but then I remembered that I'm allergic to several common medicines. No dice.

Absolutely not; especially with children in the home. It's bad enough that some cleaning detergents have been made to look like sports drinks etc. Packaging is very important. Why use them for spices when there are so many other options.

oh thats kind of cool

Ive created some really great storage solutions by reusing containers, usually from other food products tho.

Are those bottles airtight? I know they snap shut for safety but im not sure if they are 100% airtight. With spices you would want them to be.

I found these great little containers at the container store for my spices, they stack and lock together, at first I was skeptical and thought this would make it more awkward to remove spices, but the truth of it is it makes things a lot less catastrophic, if you get a little avalanche reaching for that uncommon spice in the back they all fall out together, and you just grab it and set it back in. I also have them locked together with spices that are commonly used together, for example italian spices and indian spices. SO when Im cooking a dish i can just grab the appropriate stack.

I cant find them on the website tho. They have a few similar stacking spice systems.

Not a good idea if there are ever kids around. You don't ever want them to think that it's a good idea to help yourself to anything in a medicine container.

I think I'd rather use them for small nails, tacks, etc. Not that I have, yet.

I use an old prescription bottle for q-tips and another for tweezers and clippers.

you know, it's funny... it never occurred to me that other people DIDN'T reuse these containers around the house. my family (mother, grandmother, etc.) have always saved old prescription bottles (and other similarly sized containers, like baby food jars) and used them as spice containers or whatever. no problems, even with the 13 grandchildren running around. and as for remnants of medication, you can wash them before putting spices in them...

ugh. i really dislike this. i'm not sure what exactly bothers me about this, maybe my deep and abiding loathing of the pharmaceutical industry...

also, i rarely ever take prescription meds so wouldn't have enough to recycle, and buying empty ones seems silly to me.

I totally do this. I usually buy spices in bulk or in those little cellophane bags so I need to put them in containers. unused pill bottles work just fine for me.

I hate the child-proof caps on my meds, so I'm not likely to want them in my kitchen. It doesn't squick me out (so wash them, if you're worried about old medication), but it's not very attractive.

I would be worried that the child-proof lid ones aren't really airtight. Or are they?

Something about this grosses me out. I think everyone's points about allergies and children associating pills with good things to eat are valid.

Also, maybe I'm too private, but I think having everyone that visits my kitchen know exactly what medications I've taken would be a little awkward. Taking the label off seems like it might be difficult and/or have unaesthetic consequences.

Being a med student, if I found out anyone did this I'd never eat anything they cooked. Not being paranoid, but you never know what allergies you might develop for a certain compound. And what interactions might happen if I'd been taking something else. For me, it's too much of a ruse. Too much faith in that this person really did clean out this container, and whether cleaning it makes any difference.

Too easy for children in the home (even visiting kids) to associate the brown bottles with food-stuff, stumble across a bottle in the bathroom and think, "yeah, candy!" Too risky. Consider using them for storing crafting or sewing supplies, or even nails or screws.

Penzey's sells glass jars that hold (with some headroom) the contents of your typical supermarket-size jar of spices, but the Penzey's jars are squat with much larger openings...to accommodate measuring spoons. Please don't use pill jars.

I too agree with JNS. about not using this in homes with kids.

You can probably buy these unused on the internet. It might be cool if you have a lab themed kitchen and have beakers and test tubes.

It's funny/sad to me that some people think it would be too much of a downer to have the association with illness around them. For some of us it's just a fact of every day life. It's just funny to notice how different our perspectives can be.

It isn't the image of illness that would bother me. I actually think it is kind of fun looking. I would never do it though. I do not ever want my children to think that there is food inside of a pill bottle. I also agree with the point of wondering what traces of medication are left in the bottles even after washing them. I would hate to be responsible for a dinner guests bad reaction to some type of medication residue. I bought small glass spice jars at World Market for .99 each and they are very nice looking and great for bulk spices.

I put seed beads in them.

My parents have already given me a medicine bottle with asofetida inside it (which reminds me, I'm running out).

As long as you wash the bottle thoroughly, and relabel it clearly, I can't think of any harmful effects.