Pack your lunch like a bento box

The best way to keep chips and berries from getting crushed is to pack vertically: heavy stuff on the bottom, fragile stuff on top, and every gap filled so nothing slides around.

Gravity does most of the damage. A yogurt cup or a drink bottle sitting on top of a chip bag will crush it no matter how careful you are. So the rule is simple — apples, drinks, yogurt, cheese, anything dense goes on the bottom. Chips, berries, and crackers go on top.

The other killer is sideways movement. When your bag swings or the bus brakes, things shift and grind against each other. Fill empty space with soft things — a napkin, a bread roll, a cloth bag of grapes — so nothing has room to move. And for berries, keep them in a rigid clamshell or a hard container. That single move solves most of the problem.

For chips specifically, leave them in the unopened bag. The air inside is a cushion, and putting the bag in upright (not flat) on top of everything else works better than you’d think. Just don’t overpack to the point the lid presses down on them.

Future You gets to eat a whole bag of chips instead of crumbs.