By: Ireland Lee

Containers that are reusable can be a great asset for restaurants, individuals at home, and caterers. There is an array of containers that you can cook in, store food in, transport in, and reuse all over again.
Even plastic to go containers make a great addition to your restaurant supplies because they are both recyclable and reusable so customers can feel better about taking their food to go in them. Best of all – no worrying about breaking glass!

Plastic To Go Containers

Does your restaurant require quality heavy-duty containers that are sturdy enough to reuse multiple times for food storage, if you choose to, and that are microwave and dishwasher safe? Plastic to go containers are perfect to use for meal prep throughout the week or storing food service supplies and ingredients. You can stack them, microwave them, and travel with them. So, if you prefer to cook at the beginning of the week for the whole week, plastic food containers are your best friends to store in. For reference of what containers to use for meal prepping, resort to this blog post for insight. On another plus side, there are various plastic bowl options to use for meals such as taco bowls and soup, not to be confused with salad bowls.

* Here are some microwave-safe plastic container options. Lids are always available separately to use with the containers.

This option has multiple compartments allowing for a full meal to be stored or transported in one container without the foods intermingling. No need to fret about that pesky vegetable juice getting on your rotisserie chicken or mashed potatoes!

Aluminum To Go Containers

Not only can one cook in aluminum containers, but they can also be used as to go containers to keep food warm during delivery and later store the leftovers in. The only downside is they are not microwave safe; however, you can bring it out of the fridge to pop it back into the oven and presto! Dinner is served yet again.

Depending on the design style of the aluminum tray or round container, they are often seen to be a more premium option for to go containers; especially these black and gold ones. The black and gold color is a great way to elevate your food presentation. Just like the plastic containers, the aluminum ones have lids to pair with the containers and trays. The aluminum trays are only sold with OPS plastic dome lids, whereas the round aluminum containers offer the choice of plastic dome lids or foil laminated paper lids. There is a variation of sizes that the aluminum to go containers come in that you can choose from. These aluminum containers are another option when using a container for meal prepping even though it was not referenced in the aforementioned.

Life of a Container After Food

There are many ways you can reuse a food container besides for food itself. These are just a few suggestions.

Storage

Using old containers to store coins may not be as new to you as some others. You may remember having a parent or grandparent that would keep an excess amount of change in an old can, but the plastic deli containers works just as well.

Small toys fit just as well in containers for storage. Once in them, you are able to stack them on top of a desk or shelf. Not to mention, you can write on the outside using a sharpie to allow easier organization.

Not only are old containers great to use in crafts, but also to store the craft supplies. You can contain crayons, beads, buttons, pins, etc. This goes for nails and screws within the garage also.

One out of the box idea, is using portion cups and lids for storing pacifiers. You can wash and disinfect them before storing them away in the perfect-sized cup. You can throw them in the diaper bag or backpack and travel anywhere. Sometimes leaving them out in the open and setting them down places can cause them to grow harmful bacteria. Storing them this way prevents that!

Crafts

There is an assortment of crafts you can execute with to go containers. Not only with the to go container itself but the paper bag that it comes in. These bags are also great for wrapping presents, which is also aesthetically pleasing.

Many schools require projects built out of recycled materials. For example, the plastic or foil containers would be great for building a plant cell.

Garden and Outside Uses

You can use a container with a lid to feed through two extension cords plugged in together and keep them dry outside. If for some reason you need to plug something up in the middle of the yard, but you are concerned about what the rain or sprinklers might do, this is the best option to you. This is done by cutting two holes, one in each side, of a plastic container for the cords to go through. The best choices to choose from are the plastic hinged containers or the square bowl containers with lids.

After you have a craft project with an old container, you can turn it into a flower pot! Or you can keep it in its original form to see the layers of the soul and roots. The choice is up to you.

We hope that you found this guide to the many uses of to go containers and utensils informative and helpful. It is another way for restaurants, companies, and individuals to exercise more sustainable practices by obtaining plastic goods that can be used numerous times.