The Smart Pantry Storage Solution That Costs Almost Nothing

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Tired of wasting time rooting through your entire pantry just to locate one item? If the answer's yes, then it's time to come up with a smart organization solution for the space. There are plenty of useful DIY hacks out there that can help you, but they're often complex and take up a lot of time. There are also tons of practical products available from home goods retailers as well, but they're sometimes annoyingly expensive, and they might not suit the dimensions of your space. For a smart, low-cost way to keep things tidy, you could try using the clear plastic boxes that your salad greens come in as makeshift storage bins. These containers are spacious enough for all kinds of dry goods, and relatively easy to wash out. Their simple, transparent design also makes it possible to see what's inside them, even when they're up on a high shelf.

You can buy the salad greens that come in boxes at just about any major supermarket chain. Once you've finished eating the veggies, simply wash out the plastic tubs with some soap and water, let them dry, and then stock them up with packaged products. You can use the containers for keeping open bags of rice or pasta tidy. Alternatively, this could also be a smart option for organizing snacks or spice packets. Plastic salad boxes could even be a good way to get the most storage out of kitchen pantries with deep shelves.

A big part of what makes using plastic salad containers such a smart storage solution is how inexpensive they are. If your family already buys the kind of lettuce or spinach that comes in these boxes, this hack won't cost a dime. All you need to do is save the boxes instead of throwing them out. If you need to switch over to this product, it will likely cost between 50 cents to $2 extra per package, if there aren't any sales going on. If you get plastic organizer bins for your pantry from a brand like IKEA instead, they'll cost at least double, if not triple, the price difference between the two food products. And if you choose to order plastic storage bins from Amazon, you might end up paying even more per organizer than you would at IKEA.

Plastic salad containers can also be nice to work with when organizing your pantry because of how customizable they are. You can put decorative tape or labels on the outside to give each box its own unique flair. Since the contents of each box will be visible, it should be easier to find individual items. You could also cut the lids off the boxes to make their items inside more accessible, or you could keep the lids on instead so that they pack up more tightly. Before you try out this storage solution, however, you might want to declutter your pantry.

Although using plastic salad containers is an easy-to-implement solution for keeping your pantry clean, it does have a couple of shortcomings that you might want to be aware of before trying it. The first is that the containers can be somewhat flimsy, and will bend easily. As a result, you should always lift them up from their bottoms, rather than from their sides. The heavier the items are that you're storing, the more this is going to be a concern. Another thing to think about is that the boxes aren't always perfectly square. In some cases, their bottoms might not be perfectly flat either. As a result, you might lose a bit of storage space along the sides of the containers where they curve downwards. If you get organizers instead, like these Vtopmart Food Storage Organizer Bins, you can minimize wasted space.

Another drawback of this pantry storage solution is that it's not a good choice for unwrapped food products. The microplastics from the salad containers can enter your food, which may adversely affect your health. The boxes aren't really airtight anyway, which makes them a poor choice for dry goods that aren't in their original packaging. A container with a locking top or a glass mason jar will work better for things like flour and sugar. Looking for more creative ways to keep your pantry organized? You might want to try these pantry shelf ideas that will transform your kitchen storage instead.