• TheDannysaur@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Technically… But there’s also a lot of waste from the 500 pack that people throw out half of. It likely evens out.

    • saigot@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      I don’t think there are many people just chucking pills out. 1000 isn’t much if it’s your go-to pain relief.

      Ibuprofen solid tablets take about 5 years to expire (they are also pretty safe to eat expired as well, just might be less effective). So you have to have about 4 a week on average, which is well wihin safe limits even for a single person (and these are more for families).

      As an example usecase If you have 3 menstrators in your household that take 4 a day 3 days a month (daily safe max is meant to be 6x200mg tablets) then that’s ~450 a year and you’ll be using them up more than quick enough to not throw any out, and that’s just dealing with cramps alone. Throw in someone with back pain, the occasional headache and sprained ankle, etc, and you can see how quickly a big family could go through them.

      Personally I don’t quite go through them that quick (I use roughly 100 a year) but if my household was 1 bigger it would make sense for me too.