Finally figured out my food waste problem with a simple counter trick

I kept throwing out half my produce every week (like a sad, wilted salad situation). Then I started keeping a small whiteboard on my fridge door where I list what's about to go bad. It took maybe 2 minutes to set up, and now I actually plan meals around those things. Last week I used up a whole bunch of kale and some mushrooms I would've tossed otherwise. Has anyone else found a dumb little system like this that actually cuts down on waste?

3 comments

3 Comments

owens.laura24d ago

How do you even keep track of what's older when you have a packed fridge? I get what @david_walker97 is saying about putting stuff in front, but my crisper drawer is a black hole for good intentions. I found a bag of slimy spinach behind the milk last month. The whiteboard thing works for me because I see the list every time I go for a snack. It shames me into cooking the peppers before they get soft.

david_walker9724d ago

Respectfully, that feels like more work than just eating stuff in the order I bought it. I just put the older stuff front and center in the fridge so I grab it first.

lisab3224d agoMost Upvoted

But what happens when you buy three things at once? Your "front and center" just got crowded and now you're guessing. The whiteboard takes two seconds to update and then you actually know. Relying on memory and fridge layout is how good food gets lost in the back. It's not more work, it's just moving the work from your brain to a list so you can stop wasting money on slimy spinach.