Bins

Bins | Quincy, WA | February 2020

The advantages of plastic and metal fruit bins seem obvious. They last longer, ventilate better, clean easier. But the clone-like sameness of these newer boxes robs the industry of what’s appeared (to the casual viewer, anyway) as a product of design, craft and tradition — the wooden bin. You know: Natural materials, grain-pattern panels, woodsy scent when new. Of course, I know bupkis about bins. My appreciation is for the clever engineering of what’s essentially a transport/storage container. And also for the hulking mass of thousands of bins stacked and waiting to be filled, trucked, emptied and re-stacked. Heck, I should make a bumper sticker: “Don’t let wood bins become has-beens!”