Don’t Steal

Crystal Creamery is on a mission to stop the theft of milkcrates. They claim that milk crate theft costs the dairy industry $80 million a year. That’s a lot of dairy. This effort is focused on the large scale operations that steal crates to grind them up for the raw materials that are now being traded in recycling for big bucks. The International Dairy Foods Association says over 20 million crates are stolen every year. I could build some awesome stuff with that many crates.

I agree with part of this effort. Please don’t steal milkcrates and destroy them for money. Do borrow milkcrates and build awesome things.

Read the whole story on The Modesto Bee

Milkcrate Weaponry

I’m not a fan of violence and I’m not a fan of milkcrates being used to maim or injure but when an innocent milkcrate is listed as a deadly weapon I have to speak up on the behalf of the plastic. In New York State, a milkcrate is being cited as a weapon in a second-degree assault case–see the details and the ugly mug here. I don’t know the details of this mess I’m just saying that the milkcrate was proabably minding his own business and all of a sudden gets caught up in some crazy melee to no fault of his own.

Chevy + Tetris + Milkcrates

I love tetris, and obviously I love milkcrates, so this combo is targeting me directly.

XTOOL Crate Expansion on Kickstarter

XTOOL is a new kickstarter project that hits close to home for me. They’ve really done their homework and gone to great lengths to expand the usefullness of the milkcrate. They’ve even set up their own milkcrate production with custom colors. These aren’t those faux crates from Bed Bath and Beyond – there are real deal milkcrates from a injection molding facility.

Check out the video after the jump…

Read more

Apple Crates

I’ve always been an Apple fanboy. This just re-confirms those notions. Apple sent me this promotional email the other day and right there, featured real big was the classic college milkcrate, filled to the brim. Well done Cupertino!

Storage As Art

In 2009 LACMA exhibited ‘Storage Piece’ by Haegue Yang as a part of the ‘Your Bright Future’ show. The piece is a performance/installation piece that reveals itself over the run of the exhibit. At first it’s a pile of milkcrates (Korean crates, not sure if it’s strictly milk) and then during off hours, they unpack the art. Unpacking Storage Piece via the LACMA Blog. You can read more about this piece on Haegue Yang’s site.

Get Your Own Milkcrates Made

I’ve been asked over and over about how it’s legal/illegal or ethically/socially acceptable to steal/borrow milkcrates for personal use. This is an age old debate – but if you’d rather take the high road, hit up Farmplast in Fairfield, New Jersey and have them make some milkcrates just for you. I’ve explored this before, believe me and most companies (aside from thinking that I was insane) only do truckloads of milkcrates per order. These guys are willing to do small orders. So, go and be “legal” – buy milkcrates. Me, I think I’ll just keep on keepin’ on.

Makers Know Milkcrates

I’ve been a fan of Make Magazine since its inception. They and their kind simply know what’s up and are constantly surprising me with the amazing work in both the print and online versions. One thing I noticed lately is that every time they do a little behind the scenes thing with photos of a given ‘makers’ studio, there is inevitably a milkcrate involved. This is a testament to the maker lifestyle and another proof that the milkcrate is one of the most useful objects in this modern world. Madagascar-Style Mechanical Bulls In Progress & Maker Faire Detroit: Interview with John Dunivant of Theatre Bizarre via Make Magazine

Crate Stories Through Photography

Nagano Toyokazu is a very talented photographer with a cute family to boot. He creates amazing stories in his photos. I was personally taken with the two above, but there is a ton of great stuff on his Flickr. –>Sweet Sisters Growing Up In Japan via Design You Trust

Found Crate

I stumbled, I mean found, this image on fffound.com. If anyone knows more about it I’d love to give proper credit.