Dear Heloise: Two of your letters in a recent column addressed recycling plastic. Please consider reusing it as well. Small cup-sized plastic containers (such as yogurt containers) can be tub or pool toys for little ones. (Everything is fun when used in the tub, even a ketchup container.) They can also be used in the bathroom for rinsing water when brushing teeth, and they can be used as dispensers for trail mix and other snacks.

For larger containers such as those that contain peanut butter and cottage cheese, as well as other taller and narrow containers, freeze water in these and use them in your cooler. There’s no mess in the cooler or any food damaged by water, and you can use the melted water for drinking on a car trip or when camping.

Use the largest containers (think bulk-sized)

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