A large share of household food waste is fresh produce that went soft, mouldy, or limp before anyone got round to it. Often it was stored in the wrong place.
Some produce wants the fridge, some hates it, and some should be kept well apart from the rest.
Keep in the fridge
- Berries, grapes, and cherries (unwashed until you eat them)
- Leafy greens, wrapped loosely in a damp cloth or in a container
- Carrots, celery, broccoli, and most other veg
- Apples — they last weeks longer chilled than in a fruit bowl
- Fresh herbs except basil; stand parsley and coriander in a glass of water
Keep out of the fridge
- Bananas, which blacken in the cold
- Whole tomatoes, which lose flavour below about 10°C
- Potatoes, onions, and garlic — in a cool, dark, dry place
- Unripe avocados, stone fruit, and pears, until ripe
Watch the ethylene producers
Some fruits release ethylene gas as they ripen, which speeds up ripening in produce nearby. Apples, bananas, avocados, and tomatoes are big producers. Keep them away from leafy greens, broccoli, and cucumbers, or use them deliberately to ripen a hard avocado in a paper bag.
Revive and rescue
Limp carrots, celery, and lettuce often crisp up after half an hour in cold water. Soft fruit can go into smoothies, crumbles, or the freezer. Wrinkled peppers and tomatoes roast perfectly well.
Use the crisper drawers properly
Many fridges have adjustable humidity drawers. Use the high-humidity setting for leafy and thin-skinned vegetables, and the low-humidity setting for fruits that rot easily, such as apples and pears.
This is general sustainability information. Recycling, composting, and disposal rules vary by municipality — check local guidance. Cost and energy savings are estimates and depend on your home and usage.