Approaching your work colleagues or flatmates about their kitchen hygiene can always be awkward. Thus I have instigated the Friday Fridge Frenzy in my workplace. (Similar to the Jetstar Friday Flight Frenzy but not as fun – for others anyway!) This strategy is good enough to implement at your workplace, sporting club, flatshare or in ANY communal fridge sharing situation.
This is how I do it in three swift phases.
Phase 1. Alert people to the upcoming Friday Fridge Frenzy via email.
RE: FRIDAY FRIDGE FRENZY
Hello, The fridge is looking full of miscellaneous items in bags. At COB Friday I will disposing of all items that I deem to look suspicious or without an owner/ will not last the weekend.
Phase 2. Move all items that you deem to be suspicious looking to a designated suspicious food looking space in the fridge. Alert people again of the designated shelf and advise them to retrieve items from said location.
RE: FRIDAY FRIDGE FRENZY
Hi All,
It is Friday Fridge Frenzy Day! All items on shelve TWO in the fridge I have deemed to be suspicious. Please advise if they are not suspicious and remove if you wish to eat. Otherwise they will be thrown out COB.
Phase 3. WAIT before you throw. Now is the phase where people come out of the woodwork retrieving said suspicious items. (That Tupperware that has been left there for two weeks suddenly has an owner.) Then comes your chance to DISCARD all other items you have been worried about putting your food next to. Use your discretion if the Tupperware is salvageable, but in my opinion it is up to the owner to clean this out. (Not you.) In dire circumstances I instigate a phase 4. Which involves moving said items to bench and giving people one last chance to salvage their Tupperware.
And the end result is seen above.
It works!
Try a Friday Fridge Frenzy this Friday and see how it goes!
