How to Dispose of Pill Containers

Any time that you dispose of items that contain personal information you risk becoming the victim of identity theft. That is why it is especially important that you take care when disposing of such items, to remove as much personal information as possible. Credit card offers, bills and personal correspondences are all common items that identity thieves would love to find. Prescription pill containers, which sport a label that lists your name, your doctor and the medication the bottles hold, are just another source of personal information for identity thieves, and therefore, you must be careful when you dispose of them.

Things You'll Need

• Black permanent marker
• Warm water
• Sink
• Metal spatula or putty knife
• Waste container

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Instructions

• 1

  Take a black permanent marker and black out all personal information on your prescription pill bottles.You will want to black out your name, doctor's name, the name of the prescription, as well as the address where you got the prescription filled.

• 2

  Fill a sink with hot water and drop all prescription pill bottles into the sink. You can also soak over-the-counter pill bottles in the sink if you do not want anyone knowing what over-the-counter medications you are taking. Let the bottles soak for about 10 minutes.

• 3

  Remove the pill bottles from the water and use a metal spatula or putty knife to scrape the labels off the bottles. Scrape the labels off in strips, rather than in one solid piece, to further destroy personal information contained on the labels. Throw the label remains in the garbage along with the now-blank pill bottles, both prescription and over-thecounter.