Clear Stuff

Costco is great cuz it has such large quantities of "stuff". Some of the containers are pretty useful too. The apples, mangoes and sometimes the pears, come in these interesting clamshells, with spaces shaped a lot like the fruit they contain. They are also shaped a lot like Christmas tree balls. They work pretty well to keep the glass ornaments from bumping and breaking in the bins, and avoid the necessity of wrapping each one. The big rectangular boxes that lettuce or spinach comes in are great storage containers too. I use them in my pantry to keep mixer parts, salad shooter parts, food processor blades, cookie cutters, bags of stuff like brown sugar or coconut, etc. They also work well as craft supply containers, because they are clear and stackable. Who needs to spend big bucks on fancy containers, when you can reuse something you already buy anyway? They do not weather the dishwasher well. Fortunately, they usually don't come with any hard to clean substance in them, so handwashing isn't too bad. I did try to use one for compost, but they are a little too frail for the weight that can become, so I use the container from the dishwasher soap "Action Packs" for compost in the kitchen. Those are just the right size for daily use, they close tightly, and do well in the dishwasher too.

What do YOU do with all that clear plastic?