When you open your refrigerator to get a snack, have you ever discovered a Tupperware full of expired food that’s beginning to resemble a petri dish? Or a heap of verdant slime that was once a salad?
If so, Jiaying Zhao advises you to feng shui your refrigerator, an organizing strategy that not only enhances your wellbeing but also can aid in the battle against climate change.
“We’re trained to store perishables in drawers and place containers [on] doors,” stated Zhao, a University of British Columbia associate professor of psychology and sustainability.
Sadly, that conventional wisdom is now out of date. It hasn’t really worked,” she said to Matt Galloway of The Current.
According to Zhao, food that is hidden in drawers or at the back of the fridge usually ends up forgotten because people tend to grab what they can see. Perishables such as milk, yogurt, and vegetables should be kept in the front or on the door, according to her advice. Sturdier items, such as bottles of hot sauce or soda, should be placed in the back.
In this manner, the perishables are immediately visible when we open the refrigerator. And that serves as a visual cue to us to use them up or eat them right away before they spoil.”
Zhao presented her concept of “reorganizing the fridge” or feng shui in a TED Talk last year that has received over 1.2 million views. Zhao reported that since implementing the strategy at home, she hasn’t had to throw away as much fresh produce and has been eating more vegetables. She continued, “It doesn’t matter that the produce isn’t being kept in the crisper drawer, which is meant to preserve freshness longer, because it’s being eaten sooner.”
Food waste’s carbon footprint
Food waste contributes significantly to climate change in addition to being a personal inconvenience.
According to Doug O’Brien of the Global FoodBanking Network, in an interview with CBC News last month, one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost due to waste.
“It contributes eight to ten percent of greenhouse gases that impact the climate,” stated O’Brien, vice-president of programs at the non-profit that encourages neighborhood-based approaches to ending hunger.
“That’s four times the entire aviation industry of the entire planet,” he stated.
