Got milk crates?

If so, Meadow Gold Dairies Hawai'i would like them back, please.

The number of crates the dairy has in circulation has been on a steady decline over the past few years as college students — and the working force — find more and more ways to use the crates: stools, tables, baskets and storage bins, among other things.

Replacing the crates is a financial and production burden for the company, which is now asking the public to return any milk crates they have or find.

"We're maxed out in production and we need every single milk crate that (is ours)," said Joni Marcello, strategic marketing manager for Meadow Gold Dairies Hawai'i. "Some days it's gotten so bad that we had to stop production because we have nothing to put our products in."

In mid-July, Meadow Gold started campaigning to bring its lost milk crates home. The company used print ads and radio ads to bring attention to their cause. About the only thing it hasn't done is put a crate's face on the back of its real milk cartons (they did it in print ads already). And given the cost incurred for lost crates — some 1,200 are taken each month, costing about $5,000 — the idea may not be so farfetched.

"We want people to be more conscientious," Marcello said. "Give us a phone call and let us know if you see people using them."

Marcello said the plastic milk crates make for an easy and safe transport of beverage products to retailers and are a vital item in Meadow Gold's everyday production.

She believes people are taking the crates that are left on customers' loading docks. Marcello recognizes that some retailers have a limited amount of space in their stores and need to store the crates outside until they can be picked up.

Kalvin Kaneshiro, grocery manager at Foodland in Market City, said Meadow Gold delivers their products five times a week. Typically, they get about 100 crates filled with milk and juice delivered each time. After Foodland workers finish stocking the shelves, they keep the empty milk crates in a safe place until Meadow Gold can retrieve them.

"We keep it in the cooler," Kaneshiro said. "From what I understand, all the stores were told not to keep it out in the open."

Joe Bustillos, a former Meadow Gold delivery driver, said leaving crates outside is an invitation to steal because the crates can be used for so many different things.

"I bet if you drive down Waikiki, you'll see one on the back of someone's bike," Bustillos said. "Or, you'll see college students using it as stackable furniture or storage."

Reach Brittany Yap at byap@honoluluadvertiser.com.