Is there any reason not to reuse the produce  boxes with the waxy coating?

I have a strawberry box that's wax covered and nice and heavy.  I used it all last summer to carry our produce to church and it's still in good shape.  I don't see what could be the matter with them and they sure are nice to put produce in that can still be damp from dew.  I just wiped if off with a dry cloth when I used it.  Sometimes those free things are better than those which you buy.

Nancy

nancybeth:

I used it all last summer to carry our produce to church

 I am eyeing mine as storage boxes for other things as they are so sturdy.

You're right, they're very sturdy.  It's not very often that I've keep a box from the grocery store for a year and used it often and it's still in good shape.  I think they'd be great for storage and it could be if you're storing something in somewhat damp conditions the wax coating could offer some protection.

nancybeth:

I think they'd be great for storage and it could be if you're storing something in somewhat damp conditions the wax coating could offer some protection.

Living on the gulf coast counts as damp conditions, LOL!

Seriously, I am ordering two boxes of produce from Angel Food each month. The boxes are the waxed kind of same size and have the same drawings of fruits and vegetables on them with the lettering "fruit and veggies" across them. I decided to save on some storage and leave some of my produce in them in the kitchen. As I am looking at them, I realised they are actually cute and look good with my country cafe theme.

I have been pricing various storage ideas to put some kind of system in the kitchen for storing more food and other items. I could gradually build a stacked box system of two boxes a month free for this. I was toying with this earlier and they don't look too bad at all in the corner and on the freezer. They are small enough to prevent me from overstocking them which would prevent me from injury with lifting and moving them around to find foods.

I think that sounds like it really would look nice and give you a lot of extra storage space.  I just love finding something that normally would be thrown away that finds a second chance for a productive use. 

nancybeth:

and give you a lot of extra storage space.

I only have a corner of the dining area to work with for adding in storage so it limits me in what I can do with size. I have a small chest freezer in the opposing corner.

I had intended to put up shelves of some sort in the living room for lots of storage of books, additional food and whatever else but my husband has taken over that area for his work equipment.

 I had bookshelves out of the tomato boxes for most of my 20s. Wish I stillhad them.

 Unless the wax would makr whatever you store (and you could simply line with paper) I see no reason not to do that.

 After your storage needs are met, ask if Angel can reuse the boxes.

truepeacenik:

ask if Angel can reuse the boxes.

 Angel Food works through churches. I have no direct contact with Angel Food Ministries. The church does want large food boxes to replace those they hand out for the other foods. I am not sure the produce ones are large enough for that.

I can't picture how large those boxes might be. I use the flats that bottled water comes in for my pantry shelves to keep things together.  The steel mesh shelves that I have aren't good for keeping things from falling over but using those flats worked good, like trays. They aren't pretty but are useful and organized. Edey