Deb,
Felt tip permanent markers (black or blue) work great to label contents on even clear plastic tubs and containers and the containers and pens are all very cheap and kast for many years. We almost never use any lids and simply pen label on the front vertical side. Stuff never gets dirty in our RV's but some RV's aren't sealed as well or havent been sealed by the owners some may be hauled or driven down a lot of dirt or dusty gravel roads at high enough speed to create big dust clouds when they have air leaks. It can make a real mess! Haste makes waste!