Rubbermaid - Adventures in Organization

Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day!!!

Sunday, November 15th is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. It's perfect timing to clean out  the fridge before holiday food and leftovers start piling up!

Here at Rubbermaid, we are encouraging all bloggers to clean out their fridge but I was a little curious to see what was in there to begin with. Let's just say some of the photos below are gross and offer good encouragement to clean out those refrigerators and others offer some good advice for how to keep your fridge clean!

Betty's says: Here is my fridge. It’s driving me nuts because it’s usually very clean. Shelves are usually dedicated to certain categories of food. I have just the right Rubbermaid food containers to house my family of 3’s leftovers, but…

This week-end I had my parents visiting, had a chili party and then another dinner party and I’m over run with left-overs, specialty food and snacks that I typically don’t eat and nothing is where it belongs. I’m literally digging thru stuff to find things.

AAUUGGGHHH!

Brian says: I’m not sure what this is. Despite our armada of Rubbermaid Food Storage containers my wife sometimes reverts to old ways and wraps something in a combination of tin foil and plastic wrap. It’s as if she’s preserving a mummy for the afterlife. Needless to say I have no clue what it is……could be anything from meatloaf to ginger loaf.

Rob says: Baking soda helps to control smells in the fridge, but these pics are of my girl friend's fridge and she is strict about what stays in there…   she had nothing in there that was even close to being bad. Me on the other hand ….

Bo says: A normal person would put ice cubes in this container. Not me... Try year old bananas and some cut up apples that are so wrinkly they look like leather. Yummy

Megan says: As I was taking several pictures of the inside, I realized that the outside of my fridge is quite the mess with all of the stuff I have posted up on the fridge with magnets.

Ashleigh says: I have a bottom load freezer that drives me insane.  I can’t for the life of me find a way to organize it aside from just throwing things in and mashing them around till I can shut the drawer. 

Shannon says: This is a picture of chicken with potatoes and carrots in the crockpot.  It didn’t turn out that great to begin with, and then after sitting in the fridge for a couple of weeks – blah.

So how is your fridge looking? Take some time Sunday to clean out your fridge. Take before and after pictures and post them on your blog...leave a link in the comments or link back to this post so we can commiserate with your mess and celebrate your clean out achievement!!!! Don't have a blog? Twitter, Facebook, or Flickr it :)

How People at Rubbermaid Recycle

So, how do people at Rubbermaid recycle?  I was curious, so I asked around.

At my house, we used to put all the empty recycling items on the edge of the island as we were finished with them.  I became frustrated with the recycling clutter that continually gathered on the island in our kitchen.  It would sometimes sit there for days at a time before we took it out to the garage where our recycling bins are.  Recently, we put a small trash bin under our sink for all recyclables.

 

Now, we end up only making a couple of trips out to the garage during the week and it really helps keep our island free of clutter.  Also, when we have people over, we put the recycling bin out in the open so our friends can throw their cans in one bin and their garbage in the other.  We don’t have to spend as much time cleaning up after them, keeps our island clean, and helps our friends recycle too.  (Plus, since my husband is in charge of normal trash duty, and all of the recyclables are in a trash can, it’s his job to take the can out to the garage!  I love it!)

I asked Erin, our friendly blogger extraordinaire, how she recycles at home.  She and her roommates use paper bags from Trader Joes or Harris Teeter and keep them in the pantry. They wash the recyclable items, throw them in the bag, then take the bag out to the garage when it is full. Her roommate likes using the paper bags because if anything spills, they don’t have to clean a trash can, but can just toss the bag.

I also asked Rob, one of our industrial designers, what his recycling is like at home.  Of course he jerry-rigged part of his recycling so it’s all creative! He puts paper in one can.

Then he set up this clear tote above his garbage can.  Putting his recycling bin right near his trash can has helped him recycle more since it’s in such a convenient location.

When his tote gets full, he throws everything out into his large 45 gallon can for the recycling truck to pick up. 

It seems like people around here have found some interesting ways to recycle at home.  Have you found a solution for recycling that works for you?

If you would like to get more information about recycling in your area, this page from the National Recycling Coalition is a great resource.

Mixing Beverages

When I started working here at Rubbermaid, I went through all of our products to familiarize myself with them. When I came upon our Mixing Pitcher, I believe my exclamation to my cubemate Alyssa was"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU MADE THOSE! I LOVE THIS PITCHER!" And the truth is my mom has been using one for years and it so easy to mix drinks with.

In the spirit of making drinks easier to mix, my mom taught me a trick. Even if you are mixing a cold drink, start with a little bit of hot water. Just enough to provide something for the powder to mix with. Things mix better with hot water and you will save your arm some mixing time if you first mix the powder with a little bit of hot water than add the rest and mix it a little more. It also leaves less of the powder at the bottom and mixes more evenly. My roommates thought I was crazy to do this until they tried it and saw that it actually is easier and tastes better because the powder is mixed thoroughly.

There you go. Happy mixing!!!

Easy Find Lids - Rubbermaid Employee Rivalry Contest

We are excited to announce a little internal competition here at Rubbermaid.   To give you a bit of history on how this competition came to be, the team was in a marketing meeting back in November.   One of our goals was to brainstorm ways to get the word out about our Easy Find Lids System food storage containers.  Around the table, we all had different opinions on what favorite thing was, and  realized everyone uses them quite differently in our own homes!

We want YOU, the readers, to vote who has the most compelling argument.   In your post, list the NAME of the person you think has the best idea and WHY. To thank you for your vote, we will be selecting 5 posts at random to win an All-in-One set at the end of June.    

So here goes..... 

Lauren Spahr -  Leader, Marketing Communications

My favorite feature about Rubbermaid Premier is how well they stack together, both in my refrigerator, and then when I want to take food on the go. Check out how the entire contents of my barbeque are stored for a nice week of leftovers and how I can easily grab the stack to take them to work for the week.

Jim Deitzel - eMarketing Manager

  

There are so many great features about the Easy Find Lids food storage system that it was really hard to pick just one (but Lauren made me). So, my favorite feature is how the containers nest inside of each other (plus that lids snap to lids, plus there are only 3 sizes of lids so you have a really good chance of finding one that fits).

As you can see from this photo, I have three main stacks of containers in my cabinet. One stack for the 1.25 & 2 cup, one stack for the 3 & 5 cup, and another stack for the 9 & 14 cup. I also have a separate stack just for the Produce Saver containers, which I nest all together.

Within each stack I have both Premier and Easy Find Lids containers. Since all the containers within the system are the same shapes they all nest neatly together, which makes it very easy to keep the cabinet organized.

I store all of my lids in a single stack. Large lids on bottom, medium, then small. This conserves space as well and it makes it easy to keep the lids organized. One of the nice things about these lids is that even though I have six sizes of containers there are only three sizes of lids. This makes it very easy to always find a lid that fits and I’m never searching for missing lids.

NOTE: This picture was taken back in October but my cabinet STILL looks as neat as it did in this photo, which is amazing. Additionally I’ve added another small Produce Saver as well as a medium Produce Saver to my collection. They are absolutely invaluable when it comes to storing strawberries, blueberries & blackberries.

Megan Murphy -  Leader, Product Marketing

By far my favorite cabinet in my kitchen is the one that keeps my food storage. The Easy Find Lids System has provided me with the perfect organizational method. Every time I open up this cabinet I feel accomplished - like I’m doing something right. My Premier, Produce Saver, Easy Find Lids and Lock-its are all neatly stacked with lids snapped to the bases. Depending on my need, I always have the right container at the ready. Now if only my pantry made me feel the same way!!

Doug Marquardt-  Sr. Manager, Product Marketing

 

One of the coolest things about Rubbermaid containers is how they are specially designed for different uses. I think this is a great feature of the product line because it makes storing leftovers a lot less frustrating. For example, I don’t enjoy throwing out lettuce a couple days after I bought it, so I really like how Rubbermaid Produce Saver containers keep leafy vegetables fresh and crisp. I also like my plastic containers to stay clean and odor free. I used to throw them out when they would have leftover pasta sauce stains or onion smell. This isn’t a problem anymore with Rubbermaid Premier containers – they always stay clean and odor free!

Now for the bonus feature - you might think that keeping a bunch of special containers would take up a lot of space in my cabinets, but they actually nest together in one stack because of the Easy Find Lids system. Besides nesting together, the lids snap together and also attach to the bottom of containers. Pretty cool!

Katie Parsons-   Manager, Product Marketing

   

I love Rubbermaid Premier because I can always find the lid I need, when I need it. I’m not really known for my culinary skills but I decided to test them out by making a big Sunday dinner, last weekend. I managed to whip up quite the feast but had a lot of leftovers. I grabbed my Rubbermaid Premier and transferred the food into the container. My green bean casserole was still warm, so I snapped the lid to the base and left it on the counter to cool. I was able to move the container off the counter to clean it, and the lid stayed attached. When I was finished washing dishes, my leftovers had cooled off. I moved the lid from the bottom to the top and into the fridge it went! It’s really a handy feature!

Rachel Pike -  Associate Product Manager

 

My favorite feature about the Easy Find Lids system is the fact that the same lid fits different size bases. For example, the same Premier lid fits the 3-cup, 5-cup, and 7-cup bases. That means when I pull a lid out of my cabinet, the first lid I grab will most likely be the right size for my base. It’s just another way that this system eliminates the frustration and time drain of the "great lid hunt."

Share your food storage organization story and win prizes

Yesterday we launched www.EasyFindLids.com, a brand new Rubbermaid website. We created this site for people to share stories about their food storage organization stories. We're hoping you will submit stories about your success and challenges organizing your food storage containers.

In addition to sharing your story on www.EasyFindLids.com we've incorporated a feature so you can also post your story to Facebook. Our hope is if you have a challenge you can share it with your friends and they can help you with your problem. This is our version of 'Group Therapy' :)

And if your friends can't help you get organized, maybe we can.  Once a week we are going to randomly pick 5 winners to receive a 20 piece set of Rubbermaid Easy Find Lid food storage containers.  Even better, at the end of October we're going to pick one winner to receive $500 in Rubbermaid product.

With that said, share your story. If you have a challenge, maybe a friend can help you out. If you've already conquered your food storage container problems, sharing your story will help someone else out.

I hope you enjoy and have fun!

P.S. As an extra bonus we've included coupons on this website for $1.00 off select Rubbermaid food storage containers.

Solving Space issues with Slide Out Baskets

 

About two weeks ago, I did a blog post about Slide & Stack baskets and how many versatile ways they could be used to help organize throughout the house.  Similarly, I thought I would share how the Under Shelf Basket works in many areas in my house.

 

 

The Under Shelf Basket clamps down to wooden or solid surface shelves and allows you to take advantage of “dead space”.

Here are four ways I have used them:

 

 

 

 

Please post any creative ideas you can think of beyond what I have listed by Tuesday, May 26th at 1pm EST for the Under Shelf Baskets.  Shannon who works on the Kitchen Products team will judge the best creative idea and we'll send the winner a case of Slide Out Baskets to get organized! 

Spring Cleaning with Slide & Stack

We have an item in our kitchen product portfolio called Slide & Stack.  Every time we switch our color offering, they do a giveaway of the outdated colors in our office.  Over the years, I have collected a ton of these, and I was joking with our product manager, Alissa, that I had one in every room in the house!  

I would say the most unusual use would be in the freezer.  To save money, I buy chicken in bulk and put them in individual freezer baggies so I can save them for later use. I was frustrated with them always tumbling out of the freezer, so the Slide & Stack has helped keep them in order!

Just wanted to share the ways I have used it in my house case it can help with your Spring Cleaning challenges. 

I'd love to help one of you out - leave a post below about why you need a few of these Slide & Stacks.  Alissa, our product manager, will guest judge these on Monday 4/27 @ 1pm and we'll select a winner to win a case for their Spring Cleaning!

You Could Win An Organization Makeover

Welcome to 2009!  As you may or may not know, January in National Get Organized Month. To support this event Rubbermaid has put together an Organization Makeover promotion. Below are some of the details.

To enter, visit our website, select a room in your home that’s most in need of organization (garage, closet, kitchen or other). Take a photo of the room and upload the image to our website. Include a short story or description of the challenges you face in getting the room in order.

From all the entries submitted, one hundred will be randomly selected from all the entries for judging (to be done by Rubbermaid and Carson Tate), which will be based on the judging criteria listed on our website.

Good Luck!

Small Kitchen, Big Storage

My kitchen is very small. I'd say about 2 people at a time can be in there. Space is very limited and I have to make every square inch work for me. Fortunately, my cabinets reach all the way up to the ceiling, giving me lots of room to play with.

The storage space (that is too high for me to reach without a step stool) ends up getting filled with large serving bowls, small coolers, light bulbs & utility items, vases, etc. This works out very well for me since the rest of the house has virtually NO storage space. So, I guess the smallest room in the house ends up being the most space efficient!

Since I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen (I'm getting better though), my food and cooking utensils don't take up that much space. Since my roommate moved out, I really only take up two shelves with dry food. Don't be alarmed - it takes time to build back your pantry after a huge "clean out".

If I'm going to only allow for 2 shelves of food I must keep this valuable real estate organized. Armed with Dymo label maker and a plethora of food storage containers, I went to work. First step was to take everything out and put it under "review". Can I throw it away? If it's a keeper, does it need to be in a better looking or better sealed container?

I decided the flour needed to be transfered. But it ended up on the floor. Did you know that when you have a flour accident, everything within 5 feet gets blanketed?

After I dug myself out of that small detour, I managed to get everything transfered and labeled correctly. I filled things such as flour and pasta in Double Airtight Sealed Canisters. I put other items such as packets of tea and hot chocolate inside Premier containers.

I know the labeling will help me out a TON with remembering how old my food is. I'm the queen of letting things sit until they go bad! Plus, I really like how it looks in my pantry. There's something about a well organized pantry that makes me want to use my kitchen more! I know exactly what I have, I know that's fresh and I know where it is!

Now that makes me want to cook! I'll let you know how my next dish turns out. Grilled cheese anyone?

Labels are your best friend when organizing

A few weekends ago I completed my pantry organization project. If you read the post you'll see I was very satisfied with the results. My pantry was 300% better than it was before.

However I made a mistake. I forgot to label some of my canisters. Specifically the large canister where I store flour. You ask, how could that be a mistake. Well... I know the canister has flour but I don't know what type. Is it white flour, wheat flour, bread flour...  I just don't know (Actually I know it's not white flour but I'm not sure if it's wheat or bread flour).  Nor do I know how old it is.  I also don't know what type of beans are in the other canisters although I bet my wife knows.

Many of the canister I used I kept the original label inside of the canister. This way I know exactly what is in it.  I should have done this with the flour.

So, learn from my mistake. Be sure to either label your canisters or tear off the original label and store it inside the canister.