There’s technology we take for granted.

The refrigerator—first introduced the way we know it today in the 1920s—is a much-loved but often underestimated appliance. Far as most of us are concerned, all it does is keep our food cold—we don’t care for the science behind it; we put delicious things in with the hope that they’ll remain so later.

So, you may not realize it, but there is a science to making the most out of your refrigerator—not the engineering that keeps a moderately-sized box cold enough to keep its contents fresh, but the know-how that’ll help you keep food fresher longer, get your produce performing at its best, and even help you make sneaky shifts in your dietary habits that can help you become the best version of yourself!

And with the help of GLAD, you can have these tips and tricks down in no time.

One look in my cupboards showed me that it’s all too easy to collect old takeout containers, sizeable enough for storing leftovers and baked goods, while also inexpensive, so you don’t really worry if anything gets damaged, like a lid getting cracked or one melting on the stove. After all, they’re a convenient bonus from some food you ordered, so why not make the most of your meagre investment in filling your belly?

But you get what you pay for, and relying on cheap plastic containers isn’t only dangerous with materials that aren’t BPA-free, it also means you’re not doing all you can for your food, and with Canadian households contributing 47% of the staggering $31 billion in food their nation wastes each year, that’s no laughing matter!

Food doesn’t last forever, but plenty of that spoilage is due more to poor storage techniques than keeping too much food on hand. While we may have a fair chunk of the world’s money, most adults know that groceries are expensive, and that we should make the most of whatever we have on hand.

Which is why you’re probably long overdue for a refrigerator makeover.

GLAD recently challenged me to try a bevy of their food protection products so I could see for myself how they stack up against food kept unwrapped and unpackaged in the fridge.

Now, call me naïve, but I didn’t even think people would leave food unwrapped or unpackaged in their fridges, but apparently some of y’all nasty. I mean, most people I know are a long way from the days of college dorms, and not only does money not grow on trees, but who wants to eat from a fridge where everything smells past due? The things I’ve smelled from the fridge at work—no amount of baking soda could right that amount of wrong.

But I digress.

If your fridge is failing at life, here are 3 tips you need to keep in mind to get the most out of all that food you put in:

1) You Gotta Keep ‘Em Separated

You might not know this, but there’s produce out there that’ll cause other foods to ripen—and even rot—more quickly due to a gas called ethylene. Typically emitted by fruits as they ripen, ethylene can have an adverse effect on foods that’re ethylene-sensitive if stored in the same place in the fridge!

And vegetables are typically very ethylene-sensitive. The solution? Store them separately in your fridge to reduce the chance of interaction and those vegetables keeping fresher longer.

And if something’s rotting in your fridge, discard of it immediately—the amount of ethylene that trash is giving off could ruin everything else in there!

2) A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place

Not everything goes in the fridge, though. There’re foods that actually do better when kept outside of a cold environment and last longer because of it:

• Onions and tomatoes should never touch the fridge—in there they lose their flavour! Instead, store them in a cool, dry place.
• You can keep pears, peaches, kiwis, mangoes, apricots, melons, avocados and bananas on the counter, but once they’re ripe enough, you’d better move those bad boys to the fridge!
• You can store citrus up to a week in a cool, dark place away from sunlight—or even longer in a GLAD bag in the fridge, especially since they retain up to 99% of food’s moisture for more than 7 days!
• You can wrap celery in GLAD Press’n Seal cling wrap and stored in the veggie crisper!
• Stop washing those berries all at once—wash them as needed; water promotes mould growth!
• And as for those salad greens and fresh herbs that wilt so easily? Seal them tightly in a GLAD freezer bag or storage bag with a bit of air and a piece of paper towel to keep you eating salad for days.

3) Put Your Food Where Your Eyes Can See!

Research suggests that we’re most likely to eat the first things we lay eyes on when we open the fridge. So why put those decadent—and usually costly—foods front and centre in our fridges when it does us no favours? On top of stashing them at the back of the bottom shelf, here are some other things you can do to get the most of what your fridge has to offer:

• Store your healthiest foods at eye-level in GLAD containers and bags so you can see what you have to eat.
• Put these on the upper shelves as well: your drinks, any other food that’s ready to eat (think yogurt, cheese and deli meats), and leftovers, stored in shallow containers so they cool quickly in the fridge rather than raise its temperature… along with everything in it!
• And what goes on the lower shelves? Those raw ingredients you plan to use for cooked dishes! And if it’s raw meat, make sure to store it in GLADware containers to catch any drips or spills that might otherwise contaminate the crisper drawers below!
• And lastly, the door—since you’re always opening and closing it, it’s the warmest part of the fridge, so you should fill it with condiments containing preservatives, salt or sugar to keep them safe; if you put milk or eggs in there, they’re done for!

Changing Your Food Storage Game with GLAD Food Protection Containers—Waste Less Food and Love it More!

So the next time you open the fridge door, hopefully you remember some of these tips and that they help you become a better… you. GLAD wants us all to love food more, and waste it less—with GLAD’s food protection products, hopefully you can do just that.

Go with GLAD and enjoy your food that just plain tastes better!

Until the next,

–case p.

Disclaimer: GLAD fittingly compensated my family for this post with a grocery store gift card and plenty of GLADware so we could see for ourselves just how well it can protect our food from everything our kitchen could throw at it!