If you commonly buy fresh produce at the grocery, there is a good chance that you will bring home several different types and sizes of clamshell packaging. Once these plastic containers have served their purpose, if you are lucky, you can drop them in the recycling bin. However, not every city accepts plastic clamshell packaging for recycling, and you may be left to reuse the items at home in whatever ways you can find. Thankfully, there are many creative ways that these packages can be reused around the house and even outdoors. Here are a few ways you can recycle your clamshell packages at home to give them a second life.

In the Kitchen

The clamshell packaging that you pull from the fridge and empty out will not have to travel far to be put to use after they have served their initial purpose. You can use the containers to:

• store your own salad and veggie mixes in the fridge.
• organize the small packages, like cookie mixes or seasoning pouches, in your cabinets.
• store plastic grocery bags until they are recycled.
• strain other foods if the bottom is perforated.
• pack your children's lunches.
• hold leftovers for refrigerator storage.

In the Bathroom

Clamshell packages can be very useful in the bathroom, specifically because the often have open drainage holes in the bottom and snap closed. Your children will enjoy using the containers in the bathtub because they will float and hold their favorite small water toys, and they even allow water to drain out of the bottom when they are done playing. The small containers that are not perforated are good for storing small items in the medicine cabinet, such as bobby pins, cotton balls, or hair ties. If you use toilet cleaning tablets in the tank of your toilet, you can use a small aerated clamshell container to drop the tablet in the tank to keep it from sticking to the bottom.

In the Backyard

The useful ways to reuse clamshell containers does not stop inside of the house; they can be used in several ways outside of your home just the same. You will find these containers useful to store small pool toys because they can air dry and stay contained. Larger perforated-base clamshell containers work perfect as garden planters and in flower beds. You can even use the containers to make small bird feeders.

Before you toss out those plastic clamshell packages that you got with your fresh produce, make sure you take a look at how many useful purposes they could have at your house. You are likely to see that these plastic containers can be incredibly convenient to have around.