Don't Throw Out Plastic Fruit Containers – Use Them On Your Next Road Trip Instead

Snacking is as vital to a proper road trip experience as the car itself, but managing different sized bags and boxes is a space-wasting hassle. If you're a ravenous fruit eater, why not repurpose those plastic boxes they come in to enhance your next ride?

You can give fruit containers a good shake without breaking them, so they're durable enough to survive a bit of jostling as you distribute snacks. Their convenient shape and variety of sizes mean they can hold just about anything, from chips to chocolate, while still being easy to stack and store. Since they take up less space than most original packaging bags, you can stack them in a small, open-top cardboard box and just pass that around for people to make their selection. Plus, these boxes are a cinch to clean and only need a gentle scrubbing with soap before rinsing them off and letting them dry.

While the small holes for airflow may create crumbs, you can always cover these up with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Whatever you choose, just be sure it's food-safe, as your snacks will come in contact with the material at some point. While it may be easier to just tape over the holes, the adhesive in some tapes is toxic if ingested. But provided everything is food-safe, the only limit on what snacks you can pick is making sure they fit in the box.

Whether you're making your own crispy veggie chips or heading to Costco for road trip snacks, the key is to pick items that won't go bad from a little air exposure. While you wouldn't want to use plastic fruit containers for long-term storage, most snacks should be perfectly fine for a few hours.

If an item is shelf-stable, it's a good candidate for storing in a plastic fruit container. Chips won't go stale over such a short period, jerky won't dry out too much, and dried fruits take quite a while to go bad. If you have something with especially heavy seasoning, you may need to add an extra layer of sealant to the bottom of the container to prevent crumbs and dust from falling out. Individually wrapped foods like small candies, cookies, and packets of crackers are especially good, and you can easily stack them within a container for neat organization.

You'll want to steer clear of most wet foods like pre-cut fruits. Even if you triple-seal the bottom, there's always a chance their juices will leak out and seep through. Depending on the sensitivities of those in the car, you also won't want to store anything particularly fragrant, like seasoned jerky, as these containers aren't designed to be airtight. Be sure to stack your boxes by durability, with the most delicate snacks on top before you start your trip.