It's the most understandable mistake in the world. You're cleaning out a cabinet, you find a couple of boxes of test strips you'll never use, and into the garbage they go. Done. Except that quiet little decision throws away real money — and, more importantly, supplies that another person is actively rationing right now.
What actually happens when you trash them
Here's the uncomfortable reality about discarded test strips:
- They can't be recycled curbside. Glucose test strips are a medical product, not paper or plastic packaging. Your recycling program won't take them — only the outer cardboard box is recyclable. The strips themselves go to landfill.
- Sealed, they're still perfectly usable. Unlike food, an unopened box doesn't spoil the day you decide you don't need it. Someone else could use every strip.
- They're expensive to replace. GoodRx lists name-brand boxes at well over $100 retail. Throwing one out is, in cash terms, like tossing a bill in the bin.
Used strips are different
To be clear: a *used* strip, or a used lancet, is a biohazard and does belong in proper disposal — a puncture-proof sharps container, not loose trash. This article is about the *sealed, unused* boxes, which are a completely different story. Those have options.
The waste is bigger than one drawer
Zoom out and the picture gets starker. More than 40 million Americans live with diabetes, per the CDC, and diabetes care accounts for roughly one in four US healthcare dollars — the American Diabetes Association put the national cost at over $412 billion. A lot of people ration supplies because of that cost. Meanwhile, usable sealed strips get thrown away every day because nobody realized they had another option. That gap — full drawers on one side, empty ones on the other — is the whole reason a resale and donation ecosystem exists.
Nothing about a sealed box of strips says “trash.” It only ends up there because no one told us there was a better door.
Three better doors
- Donate them. Nonprofits redistribute sealed, unexpired strips to people who can't afford them. See our donate-or-sell guide for who accepts them.
- Sell them. Turn the boxes back into cash while the supplies still reach someone who needs them. Get a quick offer — no shipping, local meetup, cash on the spot.
- Give them to someone you know. If a friend or family member uses the same meter and the box is sealed and unexpired, hand it over directly.
Any of the three beats the garbage can. The only genuinely bad outcome is the landfill, where the money and the supplies both vanish. So before you toss that box: check the expiration date, make sure it's sealed, and pick a better door. If selling sounds easiest, we make it about as simple as it gets — tell us what you have and we'll take it from there.
Got sealed boxes to turn into cash?
Tell us the brand, quantity, and expiration dates. We'll send a no-obligation cash offer and set up a local meetup across the Salt Lake Valley.