http://www.bin-store.com/blog

If you invest in high-quality plastic containers for food, they should hold up very well to repeated use, especially if you do not put them in the microwave. But over time, even high-quality bins can sometimes become deformed or even end up cracking. Obviously if you cannot seal your plastic bins, you cannot use them safely for food storage. So what can you do with them?

1. Try to fix them.

If you have a bin with a deformed lid which does not seal, it is possible you can get it back into shape.

There is no single method for how to fix warped plastic. But there are a couple things which may work:

• Try putting the lid inside boiling water so that it becomes pliable (likely how it lost its shape in the first place—from use in the microwave). Remove it from the boiling water, and immediately put something flat on it (such as a plate). Then put something heavy on top of that. Wait for it to cool down, then remove the plate and the heavy object. With luck, the plastic container lid will have flattened back into shape.

• If you do not want to use boiling water, another option is to aim a hairdryer at the plastic until it becomes sufficiently warm and pliable, and then do the exact same thing with the heavy object. A large hardbound book may also work to compress the lid back into shape.

2. Re-purpose them around the house.

If you cannot get a plastic sealable food box to seal properly anymore, or you are dealing with a plastic bin for food which is cracked, another idea is to simply find another use for the bin.

Just because a container does not seal anymore does not mean it is not useful! In fact, there are plenty of uses for bins even without lids in every room of the house. Use them to store stuff in your desk or bedroom drawers, or for storing tools and parts in the garage or garden shed or craft room. There literally is no end to the ideas here. You probably have a few rooms in your house right now which could use some organizing.

3. Recycle them.

If all else fails and you cannot find a use for your warped or cracked plastic containers around the house, you can always recycle them (assuming you purchased recyclable bins in the first place, which you always should). Never just throw them in the trash. It is important to do your part to protect the environment.

Plastic food containers are always a great investment if you need them. Taken care of properly, they can provide you with years of use in the kitchen. And even after they lose their usefulness in the fridge or freezer, you will probably find plenty to do with them elsewhere in the home. Take stock of your needs and buy only what you need. Repurpose bins which no longer seal, and you probably will rarely need to recycle a plastic bin.