by A Brooklyn-based startup called Cabinet Health wants to do away with single-use plastic prescription drug bottles. The company says the medical industry creates 194 billion plastic medicine bottles a year, and that “90% of these end up in our oceans, landfills and air supply and break down into microplastics.”
Their proposed solution is refillable glass jars (which you buy from them, of course).
Instead of going to the pharmacy, you change their prescription and have your medications mailed to you in compostable containers.
All very well, but technically speaking, if I already have a prescription and Cabinet Health refills it, couldn’t I drop the pills in my old plastic bottle? Of course. What the company hopes is that its attractively designed glass “forever bottles,” which are pretty but are really just squat jars, will be attractive.
The jars, which feature child-resistant caps, have at least two potential UX enhancements: they’re stackable, to take up less space in a medicine cabinet for people with multiple prescriptions; And at the top is a magnetic label with drug information, lot number, expiration date, and a QR code that you scan with your phone to request refills, which is easier than phoning in and scrolling through submenus. (Interestingly, the QR code doesn’t appear on any of the product photos.)
I think he idea It’s good, but I have doubts about the overall benefits. The fine print reveals that its refill packaging “must be taken to a commercial or industrial composting facility”; how many people will do that? It’s also worth noting that while the bottles themselves are child resistant, the packaging that the refills come in is not childproof; so, for safety reasons, parents would need to exercise some discipline in placing the pills in the bottles immediately upon receipt.
Damn more, the jar lids are made of… plastic. To be fair to the company, they state that “we invest in plastic offsetting for any plastic still being produced in our supply chain, while also providing carbon-neutral shipping for all of our customers. We know we still have work to do, and As a Certified B-Corporation, we regularly measure our environmental and social impact to identify opportunities for continuous improvement.”
At press time, the company might provide around 200 different drugs (but no controlled substances; if you’re on Schedules I through V, you’re out of luck).
So yes or no? In short, do you think Cabinet Health products are an improvement?
