Organize Your Refrigerator Drawers

Time Needed: 20 minutes

Last week, you organized your refrigerator door. Today, you will organize the drawers in your refrigerator.

You’ll notice that many of the steps are the same that you used when organizing the refrigerator door.

STEP ONE: Remove

Take everything out of the drawers of the refrigerator one at a time. Put each item in one of three places:

Trash

                If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, it goes in the trash:

• Is it expired?
• Has it spoiled?
• Is it empty?
• Will I use it before it expires?

Counters

These are what will go back to the refrigerator drawers. As you put them on the counter, divide them into categories. You can consider the following categories:

Low Humidity Drawer

        Fruits and vegetables that don’t need much moisture.

        Examples: apples, grapes, peaches, pears, peppers

High Humidity Drawer

        Fruits and vegetables that need more moisture.

        Examples: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green onion, leafy greens

Deli meat/cheese

        Examples: lunch meat and cheeses

STEP TWO: Clean

Clean drawers with soapy water, rinse with water, dry.

STEP THREE: Finalize

Finalize the categories you started with and make any modifications that you need. Things to consider:

• How much space do I have in each refrigerator drawer?
• How many items do I have to fit in the refrigerator drawers?
• Do my current categories fit well into the space?
• Should I reorganize any of my categories?
• Do I need to make any new categories?

STEP FOUR: Replace

Once you have figured out your categories, put everything back in the refrigerator, creating zones that work for you.

STEP FIVE: Enjoy! And…maintain.

Well done! You now have an even more functional refrigerator. Now that you have done the hard work to clean and organize, make sure to check in on a regular basis to remove items that have spoiled.