Vacation schedules and summer hours will soon be coming to an end, and your office space will be back to buzzing with colleagues. Now is a great time to stock up the office fridge with a few items that will help you and your office mates keep things clean and organized all year long.
Box of Baking Soda
An open box of baking soda in your refrigerator and freezer will help eliminate odors. Although you should replace the box every three months, you may find you need to replace it more often if it is absorbing too many odors. We also suggest sprinkling a little baking soda at the bottom of refrigerator drawers—covering with a folded paper towel—to help eliminate odors in those spaces as well.
Fridge Mats
This is an easy DIY solution that will make it easy to keep your office refrigerator clean. Simply purchase a plastic placemat and cut to fit fridge shelves. When you have a spill (or someone else has a spill and doesn’t clean it up), you can simply pull out the mat and wash it in the sink.
Lazy Susan or “Turntables”
Often reserved for the kitchen table or countertop, a lazy Susan in the office fridge is a great way to store bottles and jars of condiments—you know, those things everyone needs to use, but no one can ever seem to find. We like the non-skid versions from Bed, Bath & Beyond because they come in various sizes, perfect for any kind of office fridge.
Upcycled Crystal Light Containers
We love this idea from Buzzfeed—turn those Crystal Light cylinders into storage containers for vegetables such as carrots, celery and cucumber slices. In addition to being able to store these items in water (keeps your vegies fresher longer), they fit perfectly inside the door of most refrigerators—a great way to keep healthy snacks handy for the entire office.
Masking Tape & Sharpie
For those office mates who love to keep leftovers in the fridge, make it easy for them to label their food. Store a roll of masking tape and a sharpie in the side of the door (fits great in the sections reserved for butter and cheese) and encourage colleagues to not only put their name on the food, but the date. That way, when it is time for a fridge “clean out”, you will easily know what can be thrown away.