'I have a bunch of bottles that now have a use'

Got some unused pill bottles laying around? One Redditor shared an easy way to make use of them to propagate new plants.

The scoop

The original poster shared photos of an olive tree cutting housed in an orange pill bottle — something many people have around with nowhere to go but the garbage can. But instead of tossing the plastic, the OP opted for recycling it into a mini habitat.

"People really be using their pill bottles." Photo Credit: Reddit

The hack was made available to the r/propagation community, showing other users a plant rooted in perlite granules, which aid root development. “I find them very convenient and adaptable to rooting cuttings,” the OP explained about the pill bottles.

How it’s helping

Many gardeners use pots and soil to propagate their plant cuttings. While this certainly works, it can also cost money to get everything you need. Even if you have pots, you’ll still need fresh soil to get things moving.

But this hack uses pill bottles you may already have on hand. Plus, since pill bottles are quite small, you only need a small amount of water to keep your cuttings hydrated. Meanwhile, a pot with soil would likely need more water.

Also, pill bottles are made of plastic. When you reuse them instead of throwing them away, you can keep them out of landfills and protect oceans from plastic pollution. That’s important since in 2025, global plastic waste is expected to reach 507 million tons, according to Waste Direct.

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Many organizations have focused on helping people declutter and find new uses for their used items, including PaperBackSwap, which helps book lovers trade books they own for ones they want to read. Several retailers and services, such as Best Buy and Gazelle, also let you make money by recycling old electronics.

But this post shows how you can make small changes at home to reduce plastic waste. If you don’t garden, you can use old pill bottles in other ways, including to store office supplies, portion coffee beans, and hold dog treats for puppy training.

What everyone’s saying

Other gardening enthusiasts praised this hack, appreciating the OP’s creativity in putting empty pill bottles to use.

“People really be using their pill bottles,” one wrote.

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“I have a bunch of bottles that now have a use,” another said.

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