Tupperware, takeout containers, butter tubs, Rubbermaid…
No matter what you call them they are plastic food containers.
Love them or hate them I find that they are both a major part of every kitchen and the bane of many of my clients.
Does this sound like your house? Do you have a mountain of them? Do you open a cabinet and they crash down on your head, fall all over the floor? Do you have them stashed in your lower cabinets?
Dinner is over, you are clearing the table, you have leftovers that your know will be perfect for lunch tomorrow or dinner. So you open a drawer and dig around. Finally find the right size, fill it up with your leftovers only to discover you can’t find the lid?
Where is the darned lid?
No lid?
News flash a plastic food container with NO lid is just a crappy bowl.
Also do you have food containers that you have nuked until they glowed? Melted, food stained, stinky? WHY! Just throw them out too.
Don’t try to reuse takeout containers. They are not designed for multiple re-use.
You want to get control?
Lets Round up your Rubbermaid
First remove them all from your cabinets and drawers.
Now sort them. Remember….
NO LID = TRASH
Stained, melted or stinky = Right you guessed it ~ TRASH.
Now what are you left with? How many do you really need?
That is for you do decide. I might suggest that you box half of the remaining containers and put them on a shelf or in a closet. If you don’t need any of them in say 3 months you really didn’t need them.
Now that you have purged your plastic food container stash I want to say Great job!
Let’s talk about conquering your plastic.
I nest and stack mine. Also many of my containers will use the same lids. I actually have a larger Rubbermaid box with a lid that I store all my containers in. That box lives on the floor of my pantry. I can pull the entire box out to get the exact size that I need then easily return the box to the designated spot. You might rather have a basket or such.
Wherever you decide your plastic containers are going to live make sure it is a small and defined place.
Don’t dedicate an entire shelf or drawer to containers. If you do you will be prone to fill the entire shelf or drawer.
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Simple Right? I love your comments. Tell me how many did you trash?
#Tupperware, #plasticavalanche, #plastickeepsfallingonmyhead, #clutter, #organized, #Home
Uggg! I definitely have the dramatic infomercial of exploding Tupperware in my cupboard. I will definitely clean this up
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yea!! You will feel so much better when you don’t have Tupperware falling on your head.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a safety hazard
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right you shouldn’t have to wear a hard hat in your own home.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 I have one big drawer full of plastic containers. Every now and then I’ll sort them out and dump those that are somewhat “broken” or where lids are missing.
I use old Lock’n’Lock boxes hat aren’t good for food any longer i.e. for keeping nail polishes in when I travel. This way I don’t need to worry that the nail polishes will leak in my suitcase.
Have a very HAPPY day 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
did you just do a walk through my kitchen! i like your tips, i like a neat space but always let clutter pile up until it drives me crazy that i cant even open a cupboard door. i been picking up some really good tips here, thanks Pamela….Gina
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Gina. Yes I did walk through your kitchen. Kidding. I’m glad it is helping you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m doing this. This weekend. My cup runneth over with mismatched Tupperware. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent!
LikeLike
Such good advice! One of the best things I did in my kitchen was get the Rubbermaids (as we call them) organized. We use them every day (for lunches and leftovers), so we need a fair number. But I spend so much less time now with them than I used to, searching for lids and the particular container I want. At least now when I don’t have the one I want, I know it’s either in the dishwasher or the fridge!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent. See you have more time to spend on something you actually enjoy rather than finding a lid.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly. Time finding a lid is not time well spent (because, obviously, I have many more things to be worried about).
LikeLiked by 1 person
OK, I have a nice tidy pile of Tupperware in a corner of a lower closet. Yay!
It’s the stacks of ‘gifts’ in old containers from my mother (she’s a bad as my cats) that are stacked in the fridge I have deal with next. Face the nightmare…
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can do it!! You will feel so much better once you do.
LikeLike
I finally went through mine last year and organized everything the way you’ve suggested here. Best decision ever!!! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thrilled to hear that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes – this resonates! The ‘tupperware’ boxes are like socks – how do we end up with ‘no lids’ or lids and ‘no container’ – I just don’t understand it. I can only conclude that we have ‘Borrowers’ living under our floors!! And really – where do you keep them – No matter how hard I try to organise them somehow I end up with them ‘falling’ on my head on a regular basis!! Yikes – I need you to come to my house!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Remember Wendy less is more. No lids = crappy bowls. Let them go. Also maybe they should be in a lower cabinet so they will not fall on your head. So take them all out mate them up and let go of the ones with no mate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can and I will Pamela! hehe.. definitely should move them to a lower cabinet!! x
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
AND Wendy you can do it. 🙂
LikeLike