Do you have a list of repeat offendors? What I’m talking about is packaging waste that keeps reappearing in your house. Every time you turn around, you find yourself with another [blank] to throw in the recycle bin, or worse, you can’t recycle it! My [blank] is plastic fruit containers. My kids love strawberries and blueberries, so we end up with loads of the clear plastic clamshell containers. At a loss on what to do with them, I did a little research and found a few ideas.
How to reuse plastic clamshell fruit containers
- Cut off the lid and use the bottom for seedling planters (keep the lid to slide underneath and catch water)
- Blueberry containers would make a nice half or mini sandwich container in a lunch box
- Try using them in a child’s art project, like this “stained glass” hanging
- Store sewing or craft notions
- Donate your plastic containers to a local farmers market or farm
- Donate them to the art teacher at your child’s school (please ask first!)
- Bring back the ’80s and make Shrinky Dinks!
- Dress it up and use it as a gift container for homemade goodies or candy
- Make a mini Easter basket
- Use as a strainer for small bath toys (be sure there are no sharp edges)
- Create a mini colander to rinse fruit and veggies from your garden
- Use them to store homegrown fruit and veggies in the refrigerator
- Kids love containers; give your child one of these and put their imagination to work (to hold trinkets, as a dollhouse bed, Barbie hot tub, etc.)
- Make a homemade stencil by cutting a design into the lid of a container (here are some free patterns!)
What are some of the repeat offenders in your house?
Other articles that might interest you:
repurposeful 
I just used a strawberry container to hold crayons. I found I had several “partial boxes” of crayons around the house – so I consolidated. So far, so good.
I find I have loads of yogurt containers (the big ones). I know they can be recycled, but I hate to fill the bin up with them. Right now, I’m using one at my kitchen sink to hold composte material (before I take it out to the pile).
-Mary
[…] irk you as much as they irk us, but Repurposeful offers several kid-friendly projects to help you repurpose plastic clamshell fruit containers into everything from seedling planters to Easter […]
One of the repeat offenders in my house is plastic bottles. Soda bottles can be cut in half and used to grow seedlings, but it’s the empty Gatorade bottles that puzzle me for a use.
Mary– Thanks for the ideas. Large yogurt tubs are perfect for holding compost in the kitchen.
Country Experience– Hmmm… Gatorade bottles. Let me ponder that and I’ll get a post up soon.
[…] plastic fruit containers (clamshells) […]
[…] Where to store your puzzle? In a repurposed plastic fruit container, of course (blueberry containers work […]
You manufactured some nice tips there. I looked on the web for the problem and found almost all guys will approve using your site.
anyone have any ideas for the dole plastic fruit cups – my husband takes one to work everyday??
Dole fruit containers make great paint cups for kids crafts. The more the merrier because the kids like to mix their own colors.
Great ideas! Could you put the shrinky dinks into the oven if you don’t have a toaster oven, what temp?
Dole fruit cups are great for kids crafts! If you can’t use them all, check with the art teachers at your local school to see if they could.
I use plastic containers as greenhouses for seedlings.
I’m a math teacher in an elementary school and the fruit cups are perfect for cubes, counters or dice. Maybe you could donate them.
Use any of these containers to send leftovers home with guests and you don’t need to worry about your good plastic. Yogurt cups and fruit cups go out tot the garage for my husband to mix small amounts of paint/glue/stain etc
Great ideas, Cara! I featured your post on my Facebook page today, stop by and check it out. And if you “like” my page, you can get all the latest & greatest money-saving tips in your news feed! https://www.facebook.com/RealPennyWisePage
[…] More ideas (no pictures) on Recycle This? or here […]
[…] a check of Repurposeful for some […]
I have been saving up my containers and this weekend I am making a greenhouse roof with them for my rooftop in Singapore. This is to reduce the amount of rainfall onto my vegetable garden that isn’t doing too well due uncontrolled watering by Mother Earth 🙂
I’ll be up cycling old pallets as the frame and strawberry boxes for the glass.
I reuse plastic boxes from dates, prunes, nuts, etc. They make great storage containers for beads and other craft items, their tops snap on securely and the boxes stack. The hard part is getting the residue from the labels off the plastic.
Thanks for the info so going to try all the ideas
Why can’t you just put them with the rest of your recyclables? You don’t have to turn all your trash into something else.
[…] More ideas (no pictures) on Recycle This? or here […]
Jenny, I know that those containers are clearly marked with the recycle symbol, but some recyclers don’t take them because their processing equipment can’t deal with them. I think I’m seeing more and more of this and have to wonder how the container manufacturers accomplish this because someone surely is making these containers by the scores, right? Maybe this is a lobbying opportunity? H’m’m …
[…] Repurposing repeat offendors: Plastic fruit containers […]
[…] If you do end up with clamshells, here are some innovative ideas for how to reuse this type of plastic: https://repurposeful.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/repurposing-repeat-offendors-plastic-fruit-containers/ […]
I am a vegetable stir fry eater. My vegetable bin is too small for these vegetables most times esp. when two lettuces are occupying that space.
I just filled one plastic tray with radishes, one with 2 green peppers, and one with baby carrots, and one with green onions/scallions…….great idea for now they stack nicely without using the vegetable bin.
Write to your grocery store headquarters or ask your favorite farmer to package their berries and tomatoes in these recyclable, compostable, biodegradable alternatives invented by a farmer herself who hated plastic clamshells: https://www.cresbicrate.com/special-pricing/sustainable-clamshell
I hope that there is a better alternative than using the clamshell containers for other purposes in our homes. I purchase a lot of fruit each week and easily end up with a dozen of these containers. Even if I had kids at home I don’t know what I would do with 40 or 50 of these containers per month. Please suggest an alternate solution to this issue. Maybe it’s time to convince our grocery stores to sell fruit and cherry tomatoes in a container that is recyclable.
[…] in reusing these goods. If you love to garden, you can use single-use plastic produce containers to start your seedlings in the spring. If you also want to reduce food waste, save the seeds from your produce and prevent […]