Uses for Plastic Strawberry Containers – 719woman.com
This summer, in an effort to eat healthier, I upped my servings of fruits and vegetables and watched the amount of processed foods I was consuming. I shopped more at our local farmers market and took advantage of produce sales at the grocery stores. As a result, I do feel better but now I have a ton of those clear plastic containers that berries, cherry tomatoes, and salad greens often come in.
When I realized just how many containers I was putting in the recycle bin every week, I did begin saving them for “something.” A mistake I made as I was amassing them, having those occasional “brain fog” moments, was sticking the containers in the dishwasher. They did not hold up well at all. Seriously, even on the top rack, the plastic just can’t take that much heat. When I opened the dishwasher instead of clean containers, I had misshapen, half melted blobs. After that incident I started tossing them in the recycle bin again.
Last week, having five empty plastic containers at once, I decided to once again, see if I could find any cool ways to repurpose them. I did have one of those “Duh, why didn’t I think of that?” moments when I saw pictures using the containers for oh I don’t know, storing smaller, loose items in.
I read that a lot of people reuse them for leftovers and for food storage. A word of caution though when reusing plastic. You should always check the number on the bottom of the container to see what it is. Every container I had on hand was labeled PETE 1 which does not contain BPA or phthalates (which is a good thing.) But cleaning detergents and high temperatures CAN cause chemicals to leach out of the plastic. Plastic #1 is only intended for one time use.
KNOW YOUR PLASTICS…
http://www.healthychild.org/know-your-plastics/
Having said that, I do know people who gently wipe out the containers and reuse them when storing produce and things like chips and nuts. I wouldn’t if they had originally held something that became moldy or leaked, but that’s just me. I saw some really cute ideas using them for homemade goodies like cookies or candy which I most likely will use this holiday season. Just FYI, to be totally on the safe side, I would never put hot foods in one of these.
Ok, back to ways you can repurpose your plastic strawberry or tomato containers. If you don’t want to use these for food storage, there are lots of other fun (and safe) ways to repurpose them. Here are a few ideas I really liked…
What a cool idea!