Rubbermaid - Adventures in Organization

I love my Produce Saver

Sure, I work for Rubbermaid but that doesn't mean I have to love every product we make. However I LOVE the new Produce Saver food containers!  Especially for strawberries.

Nearly every morning for as long as I can remember I've had granola for breakfast. Granola on it's own is sometimes boring.  In the past I would occasionally purchase berries (strawberries, blueberry or raspberries) to add to my granola.  But, they would typically go bad before I would use them all.

Recently I purchased a few of the Produce Saver containers while I was testing the rubbermaid.com online coupons.  I knew from the product manager, Megan Murphy, that they were designed to keep produce and vegetables fresh longer.  I however didn't really think that it was such a big deal.

Well... it IS a big deal.  Since I bought my Produce Saver containers I've had berries on my granola every single day (It's wonderful).  I can purchase a pint of strawberries, empty them into my medium (5 cup) container, store them in the refrigerator, and they keep for nearly 2 weeks.  My mornings have improved tremendously because of a simple container.

One final thing I'd like to share. I use the 5 cup container for strawberries but I use the smaller 2 cup container for blueberries and raspberries. I would recommend buying them both.

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Tip No. 64 through 72 of 1001 - Camping / Vacations / Sports & Activities

Tip No. 64 - Rubbermaid's 50-gallon Roughneck Jumbo Storage Box easily holds tents, tarps, sleeping bags or pillows.

Tip No. 65 - Rubbermaid's 45-gallon Roughneck Jumbo Wheeled Storage Box can be a lifesaver when it comes to carrying supplies a long distance.

Tip No. 66 - Scouts may recall metal mess kits, but plastic tableware is handy as it retains food heat well; a plastic mug of hot coffee is easier on the lips than metal.

Tip No. 67 - At a primitive campsite (fire ring only), fill four large empty cans with water and use as a base for your grill over campfire. When the meal is over, use the warmed water to wash dishes and to put our the fire.

Tip No. 68 - Before you go, be sure to freeze a few Blue Ice packs to store in your ice chest for hours of cooling power.

Tip No. 69 - Freeze wet washcloths in plastic sandwich bags; store them in your ice chest inside a food container. Take the individual bags on hikes to help take the itch out of insect bits, or as a refreshing wipe.

Tip No. 70 - TakeAlong food storage containers will fit into the pockets of back packs to hold crushable foods; when empty they can help protect fragile nature treasures you may collect (seashells, pine cones, leaves, etc.).

Tip No. 71 - If you're hiking into a campsite, keep backpacks slim with plates and bowls that nest.

Tip No. 72 - Many state and national parks have a "carry in/carry out" policy in campgrounds. Minimize waste paper by repackaging food in plastic TakeAlong food containers. These help insure freshness and seal in aroma, so food is less likely to attract unwelcome pests or four-legged friends.

Organize your Kitchen

The kitchen is the busiest room in the house, and often the most cluttered. Here are ideas for "top to bottom" organization using storage accessories to maximize space.

• Cooking lids are difficult to store. If yours are in a lower cabinet utilize a Slide Out Lid & Pan Organizer to maximize space and provide easy access.

• Reaching into deep cabinets takes extra time and can be a strain. Bring contents of lower cabinets out to you by installing Under Shelf Baskets.

• Pantry doors can become storage area too. Mount an Adjustable Over the Door Organizer on the inside of your door to gain extra space and added convenience.

• It's easier to find the right utensil when it is sorted.  A silverware caddy or gadget caddy can help organize your items and keep the clutter at bay.  You'll have your table set in a snap when items are separated.

• Storage turntables or lazy susans save time when you're looking for that can of soup. One spin of the turntable brings items into view to speed meal preparation.

From Kill to Stun

Hello everyone.

In case you didn’t read my last entry, I’m in the process of organizing my fiancée’s closet with the Configurations Closet system. I love her to death but she’s chronically messy and causes me endless organizational grief. I’ve dedicated my next few entries to tactics that have helped me get her Closet organized. My first entry dealt with “build her interest/momentum” which was crucial for the take off of the project. But to keep it in the air we need to attack the mess.

Yes, I know that all of us organized folk believe in the mantra “clutter kills.” You can’t create an open, zen-like space if you insist on storing piles of “things” in it. Being someone who has moved seven times over the last five years I’ve learned to pack light. If I haven’t used it in the past twelve months….its given away to family, the poor or the insatiable recycle bin. But how does this help me with my pack rat lady? She has literally kept all her pencil cases from High School…. not just one for the safe keeping….all five!

The key here is to ratchet down from kill to stun. When I get all “high and mighty” about getting rid of her shoes that haven’t seen the light of day since the late nineties….I turn her right off. Any momentum I’d achieved with the closet design site is gone and he she returns to her cluttered shell. Yes I want to “kill” a third of her footwear but really all I care about is that they don’t spill out of her closet into our bedroom.

The insight: don’t needlessly provoke her. Don’t fight battles that you can’t win. Ensure her that you’re not throwing anything out and only packing it away in totes, labeling them and storing them in a secondary location. This could be a basement, a garage, another large utility closet….just anywhere besides your bedroom. Don’t kill the clutter….stun it.

In my particular situation, the secondary location is my basement. My house was built 100 years ago and so the basement is extremely….medieval (see picture). It’s dusty, damp and even has some sand. As a result the tote of choice for me is the traditional Rubbermaid Roughneck. They can survive extreme temperatures and their snap-on lids have such a tight seal that no dust or sand gets in.

Using this method I’ve been able to move out 70% of the items that were in her closet, leaving only the current season’s rotation. In doing this, she extracted a commitment that I will go in the basement and retrieve any of the things I packed away whenever she wants.
A coup for her….but well worth it…I’ve got my eye on the big prize.

And by the way….what do you think of my “stun instead of kill” insight? Am I on to something or am I just slowly loosing the battle while deluding myself?

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Other Posts in this Series

    * Post #1 - Two to Tango: Organizing your Significant Other
    * Post #3 - My Fiancée’s Beautiful New Closet

Organization Basics

Though there are hundreds of ways to get organized, the following four basic rules will get you started. Then you'll find some specific ideas to make every room of your home seem more spacious.

#1 - Store things close to where they are first used. This basic rule makes everything easier to find and put away.

• In the kitchen, it means putting pots and pans in cabinets or on shelves or racks near the range.
• It means storing boots, mittens and umbrellas near the entryway, or in a hall closet or coat rack near the door.
• In the bathroom, it means putting soap and shampoo on a shower rack or shelf vs. under a sink where they're hard to reach once you've jumped into the showers!

#2 - Store like things together. Obvious perhaps, but have you ever sought for supplies in several spots, just to tackle a small task?

• Sewing goods should go in one box, drawer or shelf
• Try to store sporting equipment in one closet or container
• Handyman's tools travel neatly together if you put them in one place. Use a caddy made for that purpose.

#3 - Keep frequently used items close by. Put away seldom used or seasonal goods where you can find them, but not where you'll have to move them constantly.

• This means keeping cooking utensils - large spoons, meat fork, spatula and tongs - in a drawer, hanging on the wall, or in a crock close to the range. You'll save time, and miles of steps each year.
• If you use Grandma's soup tureen only once a year, don't store it in precious kitchen space. Wrap, label and put it out of the way.
• Conversely, if your gas grill gets a workout year-round, keep barbeque tools on a shelf or in a storage container next to the grill.

#4 - Store with safety in mind.

• To protect small children and pets, keep detergents, cleaning supplies and medicines out of reach. Use safety locks on accessible cabinets until children are past the curious stage. If you don't have small children yourself, but have friends or family who visit with their own, be aware of safety precautions. Keep flammable products - paints, solvents, insecticides - away from heat sources.
• Store knives and scissors away from other utensils. Use blade protectors (plastic or do-it-yourself cardboard covers) to keep blades sharp and to protect fingers when these items are not in use.

Tip No. 51 through 63 of 1001 - Camping / Vacations / Sports & Activities

Tip No. 51 - Organize before you go. Assign one area of the garage or house for storage of camping, sporting and vacation gear.

Tip No. 52 - Use sturdy Utility Shelving to hold supplies and help organize items off the floor to save space.

Tip No. 53 - Keep a supply of basic essentials on hand for camping or vacation trips.

Tip No. 54 - A permanent list of essentials should go with you on the trip. At the end of the trip, check your list with what remains and make a note to restock needed supplies.

Tip No. 55 - Small supplies such as plastic cutlery, napkins and paper plates can be kept dry and ready to go in individual TakeAlong food containers.

Tip No. 56 - Nest food containers in a larger Roughneck Tote and label contents so you can carry supplies easily and quickly to the card.

Tip No. 57 - Rubbermaid's stacking drawers can be stocked with kitchen gadgets, dishtowels, oven mitts and miscellaneous kitchen gear. The clear fronts on drawers make it easy to see contents at campsite and the stacking feature makes a very handy way to organize supplies and simplify meal preparation.

Tip No. 58 - A dishpan is great to use as a holder for dishes or pans and becomes a portable sink at campsite.

Tip No. 59 - Large totes make it easy to carry lanterns, camp stove, lamp oil and other supplies. The plastic lid seals to help keep out dampness.  (Read our "Making Camp" tips & solutions article)

Tip No. 60 - Pack newspaper and kindling in a Roughneck tote for that first night campfire.

Tip No. 61 - Use a tote not only as a carryall, but for a table inside the tent.

Tip No. 62 - Plastic sandwich bags can be used to separate tent pegs, cording of different lengths and other camp supplies, or store items TakeAlong food containers.

Tip No. 63 - Take along your own bathmat for use at campsite showers.

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Do you have any great camping or vacation tips that save time, money and stress?  If so, use the comment link below and add your own ideas.  Happy summer!

New Produce Saver TV commercial - It's rather funny

I had to share this video with you. This is our newest TV commercial for Produce Saver.  I find it very funny.  It's a departure from the commercials of our past.

I'd love to know what you think.

Jammy with Granny

Whenever we take the kids to visit their grandmother (my mom) we’re hit by the wonderful smell of strawberry jam being made (I suspect she knows we’re coming). It immediately takes me back to my childhood, and it turns out that’s why she makes it, too: it takes her back to her youth in Ireland when she and her mother used to make strawberry and gooseberry jam nearly every weekend. Today, my mom still makes strawberry jam the same way: washing, hulling and slicing about six cups of strawberries before adding several cups of sugar and boiling it in two, five-minute stints, the latter with lemon juice added. She then pours it into jars to cool down before wax-sealing it.

There are only two differences from those days in Ireland, my mom says. First, she doesn’t boil the berries as long as her mother did (“She’s Irish, so she naturally boiled everything in sight for far too long!”). And second, they didn’t have the means to keep berries fresh for very long. "We didn’t have refrigeration, so we’d begin making jam the moment we got home from picking on Saturdays," says mom. "But now I can wait until Sunday without the berries losing any freshness."

Mom’s secret weapon today? Rubbermaid’s Produce Saver. She can store the berries after washing (but before hulling and slicing) to keep them fresh, without getting soggy in their own moisture, until she’s ready to begin the first boiling stage.

The jam really does taste just as I remember from my school days. And now my son certainly inhales the stuff. Maybe we should smear it on broccoli to get him to eat his greens–or perhaps I’ll hand that project over to his grandmother, since she seems to know about everything (like exactly when we’re dropping by for a visit).

Two to Tango: Organizing your Significant Other

Hello everyone.

This is my first entry as a Rubbermaid blogger and I’m excited to share some organizational wisdom that I’ve accrued and hopefully solicit some advice in areas where I still need help.

If you’ve read my bio you’ll see that my organization weakness is my fiancée. This is not only a clever one-liner…it is the truth. While some of us may have personal organizational handicaps or kids that live in clutter, my heartaches start and finish with my lovely bride to be.

What do you do when the person making the messes is not you and is not one of your children (who you theoretically have command and control authority over)? While their behaviour can cause you significant organizational grief, your avenues for dealing with them are limited (unless you like sleeping on the couch).

I don’t pretend to have solved this issue and I definitely can’t tackle it in its entirety in this one blog entry. Instead I will address this issue in the context of my fiancée’s closet re-org in my next few blogs. In each one I’ll elaborate on a tactic that is helping me in the battle with her closet clutter.

1. Build momentum: Cleaning and organizing is all about momentum. You might have it one day and not the next. Furthermore, you might have it one day but your significant other may not. If jump right into the project without regard to her/his current motivation, they probably won't respond and worse...could move to sabotage the whole mission.

I learned to start slow, to entice her into the project. Going through all her clothes and installing (even though it would be me doing the work) was overwhelming for her. So to get started I took her to the Rubbermaid interactive closet designer. Here, over a Saturday morning breakfast, we played around with what her closet space could look like… shoe shelf here…long hang here….basket here…wait no basket over here...etc. She quickly forgot about the clean up she’d have to do and started having fun with this very easy introduction to the closet reorg. By the time we were done she had now started to build some internal momentum. The key was taking baby steps.

Alright that’s been my first maneuver and so far, so good.  If anyone out there has some other tips with “influencing” your significant others to organize without destroying your relationship…..please share.

Next up…attacking the mess.

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Other Posts in this Series

    * Post #2 - From Kill to Stun
    * Post #3 - My Fiancée’s Beautiful New Closet