Comments on: Alternative Uses for Plastic Storage Containers

By: patientsaver

patientsaver — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:15:49 +0000

If you do the research, you’ll find that plastic food storage containers leach chemicals into the AIR you breathe, so it’s not just a matter of, well, as long as I don’t store food in it, I’m ok. Get it out of the house!

By: Gailete

Gailete — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:35:23 +0000

Or of course you could always use them for what was intended–food storage. I find them helpful for freezing ahead of time, they are a shape that is fairly consistent so you don’t have stuff falling over in the freezer, and they are lightweight and cheap enough that when one melts or falls on the floor with frozen food inside – breaks, there is no problem replacing them.

I have had to go from using my stoneware dishes to lightweight Corelle ones. When I cook something in a glass casserole dish I can barely lift it when the lid is on. Glass and ceramic storage is completely out of the question for me. Please don’t make those of us still using (and will continue to use) plastic containers something to feel ‘guilty’ about. They are convenient, cheap, and easy to use and hold. I have a limit of how many objects I will live in fear of in my life. At almost 60, there has been many startling reports that could have had most of us surviving on air (assuming you could find clean air). I refuse to give in to most of them any more.

By: baselle

baselle — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:32:25 +0000

2nd the craft storage. They especially useful if you treasure stacking or if you need to contain a craft fluid and dispose of it in situ. For example, paint, grout, etc. You will have to be careful that you aren’t trying to store something that will dissolve the plastic, however.

By: jay

jay — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 23:04:08 +0000

Our municipal recycler accepts only limited kinds of plastics, too.
However, if you live near a Whole Foods, they usually have a recycling bin for #5 plastics as part of Preserve’s “Gimme 5″ program. If you aren’t adding to your collection, might even be worth a bit of a drive. Check the closest store’s website or call to make sure they’re participating. BTW, Aveda shops also accept #5 plastic caps. In both cases, make sure the plastic is labeled #5 since many plastics these days unfortunately tend to be a mixture of types.
Another possibility is to check out TerraCycle.

Recycling is only after you’ve done your best to reuse the containers in any or all of the great ways mentioned here!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 21:16:59 +0000

I so wish we did have something like that. Sadly, the only recycling facility we have here is super picky. They only take certain numbers of plastic and those must be bottle shaped or, “have a neck smaller than the base.” That lets out any kind of storage container, unfortunately. Thus why I had to get creative to find new uses!

By: patientsaver

patientsaver — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:28:56 +0000

Actually, if you have single stream recycling in your town, they will accept plastics 1 through 7.