apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I re-use them for homemade ice cream.

you're lucky to even be able to put them in the recycling! a lot of places (my city included) can't take them :(

thanks for addressing this! our house used to have the same issue with these, as our city doesn't easily recycle #5 or #6 (whichever these are I can't recall?). We started giving them to our local Food Not Bombs, they use the containers to provide those who want a meal free with a to-go container.

also, we've majorly cut down on having this problem by regularly making our own yogurt instead. it's fun, delicious, and super easy!! That way we just have one mason jar full of yogurt in the fridge at all times. just buy the milk and you're set.

while could be a great recycling idea, the grade of plastic used in most food packaging is not meant to hold up for reuse and with age the plastic breaks down and gets into your food as carcinogens or cancer causing agents....don't reuse these plastics for food stuff, just toss them into the recycling bin

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/business/smallbusiness/05shortcuts.html?ref=health

I live in a co-op of 30 people where we easily go through 6-8 containers of yogurt a week (and it would be more, but we get our whole milk yogurt in bulk from a local dairy!). We do use them as leftover containers, but we've solved the problem of their being non-see-through with a roll of masking tape. We just label the lid with the contents and the date. It also helps that the leftovers live in a separate fridge from our dairy, so they don't get confused with the real yogurt.

Also, we've had an epidemic of bowls disappearing, so if we have soup for dinner, out come the yogurt containers! Not the prettiest dinnerware, but they work.

You know, I used to reuse yogurt containers (for both kitchen and non-kitchen purposes), but lately it seems all the yogurt brands I buy have peel-off foil tops instead of plastic lids. Kind of annoying--not just for reusing, but even just when I want to put a half-eaten container of yogurt back in the fridge...

I just save them and use them as tupperware.

How is a plastic yogurt container LESS bulky than a plastic bag? It seems to me that plastic bags can be squished into small spaces more easily than a semi-rigid container.

Brooklynnina, if you write to Stoneyfield with a request they'll send you free lids, which I believe fit most other yogurt brands.

Though I love the idea of reusing these, I'm with brianmac on the toxicity of doing so. I tend to use them for holding hardware or paint, not for storing food.

Really Squirrely? How cool, thanks for the tip! I will definitely checl that out...

Great reuse post. This should be on the main page.

I use small yogurt containers (the single serving ones) when I make jello or pudding to create more lunch time treats.

No offense to the folks at stonyfield, I'm sure they're just trying to make a living like everyone else...

But you could make your own yogurt and never buy another plastic yogurt container again!

I haven't tried it - yet - but I found the idea on the Cleaner Plate Club blog
http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/makin-yogurt-from-scratch-you-bet-i-am/

I use similar containers as to-go cups. Just cut a small cross in the top of the lid and poke a straw through. That way, I get the "refill" price on fountain sodas at the convenience store!

I'm an art teacher and they make GREAT water cups, marker cups, pencil cups, paint cups, brush cups, and more for kids. If anyone has an extra amount, give them to a teacher, there are endless things they can be used for. I often take fun contact paper and wrap them so they don't look like yogurt anymore.

I also love to store leftovers in them. Not the ones I use in my art class that is...the ones I keep only in my kitchen.

oh my i'm the queen of garden tubs. i cut the sides of the containers in 1/2" strips, paper hole punch one end and make plant labels. i paper hole punch one end of the quart lids and make row markers. i cut quart tubs in half length wise and make shade domes for seedlings. i drill holes in the cup containers and start my seeds. they make great fertilizer containers, scoops, black gallon pot saucers and containers to pick fragile rasperries into. the narrow neck cups i turn upside down over steel posts and stakes to protect bare arms or legs.

I use my yogurt containers to revive my sourdough starters - they are perfect for that

I can make a small batch or a larger one, depending on how much bread I'll be baking, they always fit in the 16oz container, sometimes bubbling all the way to the top. I keep the lid barely covering it.

Make your own yogurt. It's fabulous. You'll wonder how you ever ate store-bought.

For those folks who can't recycle #5 containers in their community: http://www.preserveproducts.com/gimme5/

You can drop them off at many Whole Foods, or mail them back to Preserve for reuse in their products.

I have saved them for my classroom to use for lantern making in the fall. They serve as a great base to support balloons used to make paper lanterns for our annual lantern walk.

Elizabeth
http://emblemorstain.blogspot.com

Unfortunately, my apartment building does not have a composter - but there is a community park with individual garden plots right down the street, and it has several composters. So I've gotten inspired to add my scraps to the pile. Since it's not super close, I put my scraps in yogurt containers that I then put in the freezer until just before I'm ready to make a trip. That way, the scraps don't rot, smell or leak, and I don't have to take up precious counterspace with a proper compost bin.

Coming to this late, I know, but brianmac, did you read the article you cite?

“If I was to use plastic, I would stay with No. 2 and No. 5,” Professor vom Saal said. No. 2 is high-density polyethylene; No. 5 is polypropylene. Both are used in margarine tubs and yogurt containers for example.