Thin Bins, collapsible food containers that fit in a pocket

Compact storage is important when you a) travel by bicycle or on-foot and b) want to bring your own take-out containers to combat wasteful restaurant practices of too-large, disposable boxes.

We’d seen collapsible pet-watering bowls on pet- and travel-store shelves, and knew there had to be a similar product for food-storage containers. Sure enough, we found one in the Thin Bins set of four silicone collapsible food-storage containers.

These four containers are sized to hold 10.5, 18, 26 and 43 ounces respectively. The two smaller containers are great for taking leftovers from home to reheat for lunch while at work. But when not in use, these containers can collapse to one-third of their original height.

Check out their extreme portability, thanks to that reduction in height. The smallest container fits into the camera pocket on a SCOTTeVEST travel vest or jacket, and the largest container can slip inside the same garment’s document pocket.

When we want to box some take-out, we can take out the portable containers, revert them to full size and then put them, food-laden, into the ChicoBag compact, reusable grocery sack that one of us has likely been carrying in another garment pocket.

Between compact grocery bags, stainless Klean Kanteen water bottles and these collapsible food containers, we can make a huge reduction in the amount of waste we generate.