Some of you out there will recognize this: The tops of boxes in your pantry are missing, like just cut out. The culprit? Probably your kids.

The Box Tops for Education program from General Mills is one of various big consumer products programs in the United States that offers schools an incentive for box tops. The program has been around for more than 40 years. But maybe not too much longer. 

Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal talks with Caitlin Dewey, a reporter for the Washington Post, about her article on the economics of those box tops.  

Click the audio player above to hear the full interview.

Editor’s note (Jan. 25. 2018): The audio on this story has been updated to clarify the reporter’s example of products made by General Mills during the interview.